Every Happiness
A Novel
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Every Happiness
Narrated by:
Deepa Samuel
Buy Now for £14.92
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Narrated by:
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Deepa Samuel
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By:
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Reena Shah
"A bold and moving novel . . . marks the arrival of a radiant new voice.” - Megha Majumdar, author of A Guardian and a Thief
Every Happiness is a dazzling debut that explores the ties that bind two women across decades and continents despite rivalry, class difference, and the conflicting needs of family and self.
Deepa and Ruchi are 12 years old when they meet at their Catholic school in India, but their connection is swift and lasting. As the two girls grow up and face their families’ expectations and the limits of their ambitions, their friendship is marked by intimacy, jealousy, and suppressed desire.
When, in their twenties, Deepa marries a doctor and moves from India to the suburbs of Connecticut, Ruchi quickly finds an engineer bound for the same state and follows her friend across the world. But life in the United States is different than either woman expects. Deepa’s daughter seeks affection Deepa refuses to give, and Ruchi’s son resists her smothering care. At the same time, Deepa and Ruchi find their closeness tested by a growing class disparity, competing family needs, and the differences in their desires. Ultimately, when Ruchi discovers a dangerous secret about Deepa’s husband’s wealth, both women are forced to weigh the tangled bonds of their friendship with their lives, and their families’, in the burgeoning Indian American community.
“Moving and unforgettable” (Kimberly King Parsons), Every Happiness explores the slippery edges of a lifelong relationship, and the invisible threads that bind us, sometimes painfully, to those we love most.©2023 Reena Shah (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
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Critic reviews
Shah deftly delivers a story full of parallelisms and contrasts in which the prickly humanity of her main characters is never softened.
Samuel’s [narration] pacing is spot-on, allowing space for quiet, introspective moments while giving emotional scenes the resonance they deserve.
With unflinching precision, Shah’s debut captures the complexities of women’s relationships.
Deepa Samuel’s narration brings steadiness and emotional clarity to this story of the longstanding friendship between Ruchi and Deepa . . . Samuel softly portrays the girls’ intimate friendship during their Indian school days. Samuel’s voice gradually deepens as the narrative moves into adulthood . . . Samuel’s pacing allows the evolving tension between the women to surface naturally, especially as jealousy, obligation, and affection collide across decades. Subtle tonal adjustments distinguish private interior moments from scenes of family and community life. Samuel’s attentive performance supports the novel’s exploration of devotion, distance, consequence, and friendship.
Engrossing . . . Shah has a talent for teasing out the mysterious nature of desire and the complex bonds of community, family, and friends. This is one to savor.
I don’t think I have ever missed a set of novel characters more: astonishingly alive, lovable, aggravating, real. Shah writes beautifully about every sort of love: filial, parental, marital, and above all the longing and vivid pettiness and durable, complicated love between women over decades.
A bold and moving novel with great emotional intricacy and keen attention to moral predicaments. It marks the arrival of a radiant new voice unafraid to examine love in all its forms, from the most stifling to the most freeing.
Moving and unforgettable, containing what I love most about fiction: a lush, unique, urgent voice steeped in cultural relevance, biting humor, and sentences that swerve and surprise.
One of the most arresting and rewarding novels I've read in years. Reena Shah is a writer of immense gifts . . . How lucky—and yes, how very happy—we are to have this book in the world.
Full of keen observations and confident prose, Every Happiness exposes the complexities of family, friendship, and the so-called American dream.
An intricate, unflinching portrait of female friendship and love that spans decades and continents, haunted by words that cannot be said and feelings that refuse to die. Luminous, brave, and unforgettable.
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