I interviewed Rebecca Frayn, along with her novelist father Michael, earlier in the summer at the wonderful Idler Festival, which takes place each year at Fenton House in Hampstead. I thought I’d put together a few comments on her novel, ‘Lost in Ibiza’, as it’s a perfect holiday read – despite, or perhaps because of its topic of a vacation going horribly wrong.
A central episode in the novel suddenly gained an unexpected and tragic resonance that can hardly have been foretold. Rebecca, who lives part of the time in Ibiza, remarked how friends of hers thought it was not possible to get dangerously lost in a place as small and tourist-packed as Ibiza. Sadly, the cases of Michael Mosley and (still undiscovered at the time of our event) Jay Slater in hot Mediterranean climes proved otherwise. Rebecca’s plot underlines what we all now know is possible: that with a mere blip in mobile coverage and a few wrong turns, the unwary visitor can become imperilled quite suddenly and on the most ordinary day.
Wilful free spirit Alice, aged 21, has come to the island for a confrontation with the wealthy man she was told by her dying mother was her real father. William, meanwhile, is preparing to celebrate his 50th birthday with a huge party. Long-suffering wife Clarissa is doing most of the organising, sparing no expense, and certainly not sparing the planet. While splurging on themselves, the couple are accustomed to small meannesses when it comes to the staff. Frayn herself is an ardent environmentalist, but what’s clever about the story is that William, as well as being deplorable in many ways, is also rather charming, while right-thinking Alice is not entirely likeable or moral. Each character’s arc goes some way to redeem them.
If anyone was the love of William’s life, it was Jess, Alice’s mother, and the sudden arrival of a previously unsuspected adult child at such a crucial occasion throws socialite Clarissa into a tailspin. After a few tense days Alice has had enough of the rich folks’ drama, and decides to take the path down to the sea. ‘Lost in Ibiza’ gives a terrifically evocative sense of both place and people – the Ibicencos – far beyond the tourist traps. Woven into the story are themes of rapacious development versus natural beauty, incomers versus natives, selfishness versus idealism, convention versus alternative lifestyles, excess versus thrift, along with the ever-present threat of climate change. But it’s not remotely preachy. A beach read with a fascinating undertow, ‘Lost in Ibiza’ charms, entertains and informs.
‘Lost in Ibiza’ by Rebecca Frayn is published by Whitefox at £14.99