Hilarity and pathos ensue when an engaged Irish couple, Celine and Luke, each previously involved in gay relationships, struggle with their attraction to each other and with their decision to get married. Celine, an accomplished pianist, hears concert pieces in her head, but Luke's lying leaves her brain blank. Luke may still be in love with Archie, his former suitemate at Oxford, who has been designated as best man. The peripheral characters - aunts, uncles, former lovers, and rivals - do their best to either put up barricades or to provide non-objective guidelines for the big decision. The novel reminds me of Laurie Colwin's beloved 1978 novel Happy All The Time, with a sweet-and-sour chaser of Nancy Mitford’s delightful battles of the sexes. It’s a pure delight to devour in one sitting or to stretch out for pleasure and guffaws.

Quotes: "They did not, as a rule, "share feelings". To see the tint of your internal mood ring as warranting disclosure, and to expect a rapt audience - no, no. Have you met Irish people?"

"The lie is that women are good at feelings. The truth is that they're good spectators of other people's, and good coaches and good referees. They can advise from the sidelines. But if you drag them out to play, don't be expecting miracles."

"She's not interested in me; she's interested in her own analytical pyrotechnics that my presence happens to prompt."

"You know when you're a kid and you think the objectively best paintings are the ones that look real?"

"Grellan had his principles, though it was true that he invented many of them on the spot." ( )

Celine and Luke are planning to get married and the road to their wedding day is told by several different friends who all have plenty to say about the couple. Along with their friends' negativity, both Celine and Luke have a lot of baggage to work through before they have their happily ever after...or will they just call it quits? The book is cleverly divided into six chapters that is told by one of the characters.

Bottom line...life and love are both messy and there is no perfect solution for everyone. This book was an interesting look at two people who thought that marriage was the ultimate answer but to what question??

I enjoyed this book and the way the author told the story. I really didn't love any of the characters but learned to like them more as I read their perspectives on love and marriage. It's an interesting look at marriage in the modern age ( )

The Happy Couple is an intriguing read about people not acting at their best, but realistically. It’s about situations and relationship that don’t make sense, but the characters do them anyway. It’s messy and addictive. I couldn’t get enough of this book!

The story is centred around Luke and Celine. They’ve been together for awhile so it’s probably time to get married. They are very different – Celine’s head is usually thinking about music and Luke has cheated on her with most of her friends. But Celine says yes, and preparations for the wedding start. This brings exes into their sphere and starts planting seeds of doubt once the engagement party takes place. Chapters are told from Celine and Luke’s point of view, then move to those of the wedding party. Phoebe is Celine’s little sister who is less successful but misses nothing. Archie, Luke’s best friend (and ex) still wants Luke and can’t move on. Vivian, another one of Luke’s exes, helps to put things in perspective. And Celine’s ex Maria also reappears to add her perspective. Meanwhile, both Celine and Luke (and some of the others) are working out what marriage means to them, if anything. In the midst of this are their Irish families with their own takes on marriage, some tainted by bitter experience.

There will definitely be comparisons to Sally Rooney’s novels here. For the record, I found Dolan’s writing much less overwrought with emotion and the characters more interesting. Not everything is revealed at once about the characters. During the novel, I found myself disliking some of them initially but as their motivations and the reasons for their actions were revealed, I grew to like them more. Dolan doesn’t need flowery prose; she cuts to the heart of the matter with relatively few words. The dialogue is sharp and there is quite a bit of dry humour, which I appreciated. But it never felt like she was poking her at her characters, rather just exposing the peculiarities of various situations. I enjoyed the messiness of it all – it’s not at train wreck levels but more relatable. Dolan also casts a modern lens on the institution of marriage and where is fits in the modern world, including sexuality, monogamy and financial.

I absolutely gulped down this novel. I think it would make a good TV series as each character is quite unique (and those who aren’t, get minimum page time). It’s exciting to see what the characters do next, with a relatively unexpected twist.

Thank you to Hachette for the copy of this book. My review is honest.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com ( )