Family Happiness: A Novel [Hardcover]

Laurie Colwin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1982

Polly is a happy wife and mother from a remarkable strong and attractive family -- until one day she finds herself entagled in a completely unexpected, sweet, yet painful, love affair with a painter named Lincoln Bennett.  All of Polly's beliefs about herself explode, uprooting what had seemed to be a settled -- and everlasting -- idea of family happiness.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Laurie Colwin is the author of five novels: Happy All the Time, Family Happiness, Goodbye Without Leaving, Shine On, Bright and Dangerous Object, and A Big Storm Knocked It Over; three collections of short stories: Passion and Affect, Another Marvelous Thing, and The Lone Pilgrim; and two collections of essays: Home Cooking and More Home Cooking. She died in 1992. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 271 pages
• Publisher: Alfred a Knopf; 1st edition (September 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394525116
• ISBN-13: 978-0394525112
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,150,381 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonder of a book, September 15, 2001

By 

Lawrence W. Prichard "lj-and-me" (Kent, OH, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Family Happiness (Paperback)

I first read Laurie Colwin's _Family Happiness_, years ago, and it just gets better.Polly Solo-Miller Demarest is an outwardly conventional upper-middle class Manhattan wife and mother.She has looks, brains, social graces, money, and a secret life.She unexpectedly fell in love with the dashing Lincoln Bennett, a semi-monastic, and very good artist.Her inner conflicts drive this beautifully written, engaging book.This is similar, in theme, to Anne Tyler's _Back When We Were Grownups_, but Colwin's characters are far more interesting and personally appealing, and there is more resolution.This book is for anyone who has a complicated, hard to define inner life.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You will laugh and cry, February 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Family Happiness: A Novel (Perennial Fiction Library) (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book. I'm always sad to go the Laurie Colwin section in my library and know there will be nothing new, but knowing this book is usually there makes me feel a little better.

Polly's conflict is age old. In the middle of a seemingly wonderful life, the ache she feels is really touching. I think the search for her real self and the chaos it creates to the people around her is so funny and sad at the same time. It askes the question: Who am I really?

I love Polly's family and the way she relates to each member. As just their Polly, she is ultimate diplomat. The toll this task takes, I think, I something many women can relate to. I know I can. And while I'm not sure an affair is the answer, it fills the emptiness and helps her to realize that she is a person with needs too.

I love all of Laurie Colwin's books. This one, though, is my favorite.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't Waste Your Time, August 10, 2011

By 

Catherine Crow - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Family Happiness (Paperback)

This book has the very big problem of not having a single likable character in it. The protagonist, if you can use that word to describe a character who seems intent on not doing or changing anything, is a boring, whining milquetoast, and her lover is a selfish, arrogant piece of work. Her parents and siblings are nothing but caricatures. Her husband is the only decent person in the story, but the protagonist seems intent on treating him like dirt. On top of the problems with the characters, the plot plods and the author repeats herself time and again. Saying once that the brother and his wife wear the same clothes is funny; saying it three times means that the author either has nothing else to say about the character or else thinks the reader isn't smart enough to remember the first two times. The former possibility is sad, and the latter is insulting. Don't waste your time with this one.