Happy People Read and Drink Coffee

by Agnès Martin-Lugand

Overview

The international phenomenon described as Under the Tuscan Sun set in Ireland, about a recent widow who moves to the Irish coast and begins a tumultuous but ultimately healing relationship with her neighbor, a brooding Irish photographer. Also out now: the bestselling sequel, Don't Worry, Life is Easy, also from Hachette Books.

Diane seems to have the perfect life. She is a wife, mother, and the owner of Happy People Read and Drink Coffee, a cozy literary café in Paris. But when she suddenly loses her husband and daughter in a car accident, the world as she knows it disappears.

One year later, Diane moves to a small town on the Irish coast, determined to heal by rebuilding her life alone-until she meets Edward, a handsome and moody photographer, and falls into a surprising and tumultuous romance.

But will it last when Diane leaves Ireland for good? At once heartbreaking and uplifting, Diane's story is deeply felt, reminding us that love remembered is love enduring.

"A heartbreaking story of love and loss that will twist readers up in knots...essential." -Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781602863163
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	04/04/2017
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	1,111,599
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Agnès Martin-Lugand is the author of Happiness Slips Through My Fingers (Entre mes mains le boneur se faufile) and the Happy People sequel, Don't Worry, Life Is Easy (La vie est facile, ne t'inquièle pas). She lives in Paris, France.

Sandra Smith is a critically acclaimed translator of French literature.

Editorial Reviews

"Profoundly moving and expertly told, Happy People confronts life's most nightmarish tragedy with an unblinking examination. Diane's journey to find meaning again is at once charming and heartbreaking, and I found myself pulling for her to seek out her next experience of love. The wisdom and magic in these pages will linger long after the book is closed."
— #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs

“Martin-Lugand's sparse but emotionally forceful style, aided by Smith's translation from the original French, catches the sweeter moments between two people embittered by loss.”
— Kirkus

“A heartbreaking story of love and loss that will twist readers up in knots. . . Essential for any foreign literature or women's fiction collection.” —Library Journal

“The energy that Agnès Martin-Lugand is able to convey with this storm is enormous. This is one roller-coaster of a book, but I loved every moment of it. . . Anyone who has ever experienced a feeling of any kind, ever, will enjoy this novel.” — San Francisco Book Review

“This is a powerful story of love and loss and how life moves forward often of its own accord. Both tearful and uplifting this is an exquisite story of re-growth and renewal after tragedy.” – Blogcritics.org

From the Publisher

03/01/2016
Following the deaths of her beloved husband and daughter, Diane shuts herself off from the world and stays in her Paris apartment for a year, eschewing company and leaving the handling of her literary café, Happy People Read and Drink Coffee, to her partner, Felix. Only when Felix begs her to come away with him and escape her despair does Diane take action. She moves to a tiny Irish coastal town, where she promptly meets her caustic neighbor, photographer Edward. The two clash at every available opportunity until the stakes change and a tender love begins to bloom. Yet just when things seem to be taking off, ghosts from both their pasts threaten to destroy everything. Although this translation of the French best seller can be devoured in a day, it shouldn't be discounted. It is a heartbreaking story of love and loss that will twist readers up in knots. Diane's pain is easy to identify with, and Edward's backstory is believable. Readers will be eagerly awaiting the 2017 sequel. VERDICT Essential for any foreign literature or women's fiction collection.—Kristen Droesch, formerly with Library Journal

Library Journal

2016-02-17
After losing her husband and child in a car accident, the owner of a Parisian literary cafe moves to the Irish coast and falls in love with her neighbor in this uplifting travel fantasy. Diane's cottage in Mulranny is an idyllic backdrop for a romance to unfold over long walks on dramatic seaside cliffs or pints of Guinness in a cozy pub where the cheerful villagers all know each other by name. Noticeably missing from the picture is her love interest, Edward, who lives next door but who only appears every so often to yell at Diane to turn down her "damned music" or to ask her to watch his dog, Postman Pat, while he leaves town for several weeks. But their reticence is part of the story's authenticity as well as its charm. Diane seems to get a cathartic release from turning her music back up and shouting in his face. They form a tentative friendship as Diane pulls herself together in other areas of her life—after her parents comment on her lack of independence, for example, Diane learns how to check her darkened cottage for a blown fuse. But Edward reveals his tender side when an old girlfriend appears on his doorstep. There's a heart-rendingly awkward pause while they both decide how to proceed, knowing that both of their hearts might still belong to someone else and that Diane will eventually return to Paris—a cliffhanger ending for Edward that will be explored in the sequel. But like its heroine, the first book in the series doesn't attempt to do too much, too soon. Martin-Lugand's sparse but emotionally forceful style, aided by Smith's translation from the original French, catches the sweeter moments between two people embittered by loss.

Kirkus Reviews