Relax and Read Book Club: On We Go by Sunday Times bestseller Mike Gayle

Spabreaks.com’s Relax and Read Book Club gives you the chance to discover new books, learn about the authors, share your opinions and really escape into an inspiring world of literature.

This month we're reading On We Go by Mike Gayle, a hilarious and heartwarming family drama from the Sunday Times bestseller, telling the story of Cal, who has just lost his beloved wife Nikki when his teenage step-daughter, Zoe, moves out to live with her father. However, when a prestigious university wants to pay tribute to Nikki with a posthumous award in Zurich, Cal sees an opportunity to both honour his wife, and mend things with Zoe. He plans a European inter-railing trip with her, but doesn't anticipate Zoe lying to her father about it, and inviting their other relatives to join too. Cue a fusion of awkward family drama, frayed tempers, pent-up grief, and a little sightseeing.

"I love Mike Gayle books, this something comforting about reading one, On We Go is no exception." - Amazon customer review

We’d love to know your Summer Read recommendation - the one you'd press into someone's hands at the start of the holidays. Is it something new you're looking forward to this year, or a title you return to every summer?

As much as I love fiction, I do enjoy a bit of thought provoking non-fiction when I have time to stop and reflect and a book I return to again and again and would highly recommend is Four Thousand weeks by Oliver Burkeman. It’s subtitle is ‘Time management for mortals’ and drawing on the insights of ancient and contemporary philosophers, time management gurus and more, it’s a brilliant and profound exploration of how we live our lives and what we might do to live them better.

On We Go - give us your best holiday pitch. What's the story, who is it for, and why is it the perfect spa break companion?

When stepdad Cal, receives an invitation to collect a posthumous award on behalf of his late wife he sees an opportunity to not only honour her memory but also reconnect with his seventeen-year-old stepdaughter, Zoe who he’s not seen since she moved out to live with Dean, her biological dad following her mother’s passing. To Cal’s delight Zoe agrees, but their plan to turn the occasion into a relaxing interrailing holiday culminating at the award ceremony in Zurich goes quickly awry when Cal’s in-laws invite themselves along for the trip too. Throw in a spoiled two-year-old, a whole heap of strained family dynamics and the fact that Zoe has neglected to inform Dean about the trip and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a disastrous summer holiday!

On We Go is for anyone who loves a good family drama, where you get to feel all of the feelings and also get some real laughs too. It’s the perfect spa companion because you’ll be absorbed and transported from page one, and won’t want to leave your lounger until you’ve read every last word, and taken a minute to say goodbye to characters that feel like friends.

Writing and unwinding - do you escape somewhere specific to write, or to stop writing? Tell us about your ideal environment for both creative thinking and proper rest.

I mainly write in what used to be my youngest daughter’s bedroom when she was about two (she’s nineteen now) and it still has the shimmer effect cerise pink walls she so desperately wanted! For a change of scene, as soon as I finish writing for the day I either go for a long walk around my neighbourhood and do so errands along the way or head to my local café, a huge space that used to be a carpentry workshop and grab a latte and take a seat on one of its many comfy sofas or armchairs. My ideal environment for creative thinking is somewhere quiet and relaxing and like most writers I get my best ideas away from the computer screen. For me the perfect place to relax is anywhere I can’t hear the sound of traffic. I once taught on a writing course at a location so remote that the loudest sound I could hear was the buzzing of bees!

If you could design your perfect spa break, what would it look like? Think setting, treatments, the playlist and of course, what's on the reading list.

I think it would definitely have to be a countryside setting, and somewhere remote so that you feel you’re properly away from it all. As for treatments I’m easy to please, anything that feels relaxing or indulgent, would be perfect like a deep tissue massage or even half an hour of flotation therapy. The perfect playlist for me would be anything calming from The Cinematic Orchestra through to the work of Max Richter, especially his Sleep album. And as for reading lists, I’d suggest a mix of thought provoking fiction and non-fiction including The Midnight Train by Matt Haig, Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman and Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan.

Sauna or steam room?

Steam room! I need that moisture!

Paperback or e-reader?

Paperback, but e-readers are so handy!

Early morning dip or sunset soak?

Sunset soak. Perfection!

The book you'd take to a desert island?

Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James, easily the funniest book I’ve ever read.

Tea, coffee or something stronger - what's your writing fuel?

Fizzy water with ice. Got to stay hydrated!

Guilty pleasure read - the one you'd always pack for a spa break?

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. I read it first when I was only a year or two younger than Adrian and even now it still makes me laugh.