Secrets of Happiness

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One of O: The Oprah Magazine's O Mag's Most Anticipated Books of 2021One of Publishers Weekly's Top 10 picks for Spring 2021

'Joan Silber writes with a frankness and freshness that drawsthe reader closer with every page. It would be impossible to overstate just howgood this book is.' - Ann Patchett

Ethan, a young lawyer in New York, learns that his father has long kept a second family - awife and two kids living in Queens. In the aftermath of this revelation, Ethan's mother spends ayear travelling abroad, returning much changed, just as her now ex-husband falls ill. Acrosstown, Ethan's half brothers are caught in their own complicated journeys: one brother'spenchant for minor delinquency has escalated and the other must travel to Bangkok to bail himout, while the bargains their mother struck about love and money continue to shape all theirlives.

As Ethan finds himself caught in a love triangle of his own, the interwoven fates of these twohouseholds elegantly unfurl to touch many other figures, revealing secret currents of empathyand loyalty, the bounty of improvised families and the paradoxical ties that weave throughlife's rich contours. With a generous and humane spirit, Secrets of Happiness elucidates theways people marshal the resources at hand in an effort to find joy.

'Joan Silber's translucent, morallyattentive prose does something to the vision as well as the spirit: if you can look upfrom it, you'll find your own world altered - rinsed clean, and luminous.' - CharlotteWood

Reviews

'Secrets of Happiness unfolds across families and lovers, across time and expectations,across the country and across the world, and the bigger it gets, the more it shows howdeeply connected we are. Joan Silber writes with a frankness and freshness that drawsthe reader closer with every page. It would be impossible to overstate just howgood this book is.' - Ann Patchett

'Sometimes the dexterity and plenitude of Silber's plotting take your breath away, ormake you want to laugh. Why isn't there more fiction like this ... why isn't there morefiction that's such a pleasure to read, simply because of its clarity, wisdom, heart, andelegance Secrets of Happiness feels like a benchmark, a guiding star, a minimumheight requirement; I'd like to say I will never again settle for fiction that's not as goodas this, but I know I will have to.' - Nick Hornby, The Believer

'As usual, with Secrets of Happiness the magnificent Joan Silber manages to make greatwriting look absolutely effortless. A warm, smart, seductive, hugely satisfying novel.'- Sarah Waters

'Secrets of Happiness is a swim in cool, clear water in which the contours and colours ofall experience are magnified, purified, intensified. Joan Silber's translucent, morallyattentive prose does something to the vision as well as the spirit: if you can look upfrom it, you'll find your own world altered - rinsed clean, and luminous.' - CharlotteWood, author of THE WEEKEND

Author Bio

Joan Silber is the author of nine books of fiction. Her last book, Improvement, was the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award and was listed as one of the year's best books by the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Newsday, the Seattle Times and Kirkus Reviews. She lives in New York. Find out more at joansilber.net.