Lauryn Clarke
On the surface, Happy Place by Emily Henry explores the main character, Harriet, being confronted with the concept of spending her annual group holiday with her ex-fiancé. The kicker is that neither of them have told their friends that they, the ‘perfect couple’, have broken up (and intend to keep it that way).
What I discovered while reading, however, is that it’s actually about what happens when you and your closest friends get older and have to deal with changing relationships.
FRIENDSHIP
Harriet and her best friends Sabrina and Cleo have been going to Sabrina’s family lake house in Maine every summer for years. As time has gone on, this has become a whole group affair including the girls’ partners.
Harriet has been having a tough time in her personal life and is looking forward to relaxing in her ‘happy place’ – but her plans are ruined when she is confronted by her ex and the daunting knowledge that she’s going to have to pretend to be in love with him again.
“There were several times where I gasped out loud in public”
The friendship between the girls is both heart-warming and realistic. They feel like real people your friends would tell you about meeting at uni, or the people you don’t see for ages but make sure to meet up with at least once a year. The dynamics feel believable and because of this, when there was conflict I felt like it was happening to my own friends. There were several times when I gasped out loud in public (but, for the record, I don’t recommend doing this: I got several funny looks).
ROMANCE
“ultimately you root for their happy ending”
This isn’t to say this book is all about friendship – it’s an Emily Henry book after all! There’s also a healthy dose of romance in this book – and boy, does it get both heartfelt and steamy.
Wyn and Harriet fit in well with the other couples from Henry’s books; they’re charming and complex, and ultimately you root for their happy ending. Normally I’m not the biggest fan of the miscommunication trope in books, but somehow Henry just makes it work, keeping me hooked whilst making me close the book and huff in frustration. Why won’t they just talk to each other about their feelings?!
“Not at all,” I say. “I love sluts! Some of my best friends are sluts. I’ve dabbled in sluttery myself”
The quote ‘“Not at all,” I say. “I love sluts! Some of my best friends are sluts. I’ve dabbled in sluttery myself”’ had me cackling and ultimately set the tone for the book. The casual humour juxtaposed with deeper moments and heart-to-heart chats meant the drama never got too much, as it does sometimes with similar books, especially some of the ones recommended by Booktok.
KEY THEMES
Another underlying theme of this book is burnout and ‘gifted kid syndrome’. This hit a little too close to home, but was written in a way that made me feel sympathetic without making the book too much of a ‘downer’. I could understand why Harriet felt the way she did; it made her actions and decisions make a lot more sense, and if anything it made the reader feel more connected to her as a character.
I think this is an underrated selling point for the book considering this will be a standout theme for Emily Henry’s fans, especially online ‘former gifted kids’ and people experiencing burnout.
“I’d recommend digesting this with a glass of white wine”
This book is one I would definitely recommend to anyone who is in their twenties or above – Henry perfectly captures that lingering worry in the back of your brain about whether your friendships are surviving or whether you’re growing apart.
If this was a meal, I’d recommend digesting this with a glass of white wine by a body of water while listening to ‘The Archer’ by Taylor Swift.
To paraphrase the movie Thor: Ragnarok: “A happy place isn’t a place, it’s a people”. And for me, my happy place is in a bar in Croatia, drinking wine with my partner and reading Happy Place (which was exactly how I read it).
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Image featured courtesy of Author Lauryn Clarke.
Lauryn Clarke
Lauryn is currently working as a coordinator for an education charity, but enjoys writing articles about pop culture and politics in her free time. She enjoys pizza, white wine, and ranting on Twitter.