Secrets of Happiness
by Joan Silber
New Book of the Week , May 31, 2021
Secrets of Happiness
Does Joan Silber's novel contain any of the secrets promised by its title? Actually, yes! Such titles are often ironic, and there is certainly plenty of unhappiness to go around in this story, but there are also models for ways to live well, which include forgiveness, patience, and taking love where you find it (which is often not where you are supposed to). Her story opens with the rupture of one family, when a prosperous New Yorker learns that his father has two more children by a Thai woman living in Queens. From there, Silber, like Bernardine Evaristo in Girl, Woman, Other, nimbly steps from life to connected life in each chapter, linking her characters together and showing that the families they make are often stronger than the ones they are given. —Tom
[Also see James's review of Secrets of Happiness in the Madison Books newsletter]
Does Joan Silber's novel contain any of the secrets promised by its title? Actually, yes! Such titles are often ironic, and there is certainly plenty of unhappiness to go around in this story, but there are also models for ways to live well, which include forgiveness, patience, and taking love where you find it (which is often not where you are supposed to). Her story opens with the rupture of one family, when a prosperous New Yorker learns that his father has two more children by a Thai woman living in Queens. From there, Silber, like Bernardine Evaristo in Girl, Woman, Other, nimbly steps from life to connected life in each chapter, linking her characters together and showing that the families they make are often stronger than the ones they are given. —Tom
[Also see James's review of Secrets of Happiness in the Madison Books newsletter]
— Tom
Secrets of Happiness was reviewed in Newsletter #300 on May 31, 2021. For more like this, and other bookish news, sign up for the newsletter .
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