Synopses & Reviews
A simple woman looks back on her harsh life with extraordinary insight and unexpected joy
At the opening of My Happy Life, the unnamed narrator of this bittersweet fictional memoir has been abandoned in a locked room of a defunct hospital for the mentally ill. She hasn't seen the nice man who brings her food in days; she's eaten the soap and the toothpaste; she tried to eat the plaster on her walls, a dietary adventure that ended none too well. And yet, curiously, the narrator is happy. Despite a lifetime of neglect, physical abuse, and loss, she's incapable of perceiving slight or injury. She has infinite faith in the goodwill of others, loves even her enemies, and finds grace and communion in places most people wouldn't dare to look. By stepping outside her meager circumstances, she's able to live each moment as though it were her last-with gratitude, longing, and delight.
Readers will be unable to put down Lydia Millet's impressive, original foray into serious literary fiction.
Review
"Occasionally a book comes along that is truly written (as writers are instructed books should be) as if it were the writer's last: Millet's sad and infinitely touching third novel... is such an extraordinary work." Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Review
"Strange, lovely, and disturbing, Millet's third novel is also her finest." San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"Strange, slender, and incandescent... sharp and frequently funny." Jennifer Reese, New York Times Book Review
Review
"A nightmare limned in gold... a warm cocoon of words." Entertainment Weekly
Review
"If there were any justice in the world, Lydia Millet's novel My Happy Life would become not merely a cult book, devoured by a few astonished readers every year, but an examplar. 'This,' we would say, 'is how to write a novel that is impossible to forget.'" Frederick Koppel, Commercial Appeal
Synopsis
At the opening of My Happy Life, the unnamed narrator has been abandoned in a locked room of a deserted mental hospital. She hasn't seen the nice man who brings her food in days; so she's eaten the soap, the toothpaste, and even tried to eat the plaster on her walls a dietary adventure that ended none too well. This woman's story, covering decades and spanning continents, is tragic, yet she is curiously at peace, even happy. Despite a lifetime of neglect, physical abuse, and loss, she's incapable of perceiving slight or injury. She has infinite faith in the goodwill of others, loves even her enemies, and finds grace and communion in places most people wouldn't dare to brave. Lauded by both critics and readers, My Happy Life consistently surprises and excites with its original vision of a unique woman whose rich interior life protects her from the horrors of external reality.