Author: Agnès Martin-Lugand
ISBN: 978-1-76029-154-9
RRP: $27.99
Happy People Read and Drink Coffee… anyone that knows me knows that this book had me at the title.
When I was offered the book as a book club title I agreed without even checking out the blurb. Reading and coffee both in the title, sold. Start the blurb to discover there’s a literary cafe, double sold. That would be my ultimate dream. I would LOVE to open a literary cafe, if only I had the capital.
This book is a French phenomenon being made into a major Hollywood film, and I had never heard of it. It was a little funny though, I was thinking about it today and I’m taking part in the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge and trying to read 50 books by Australian women… my last three books have been by an American (about Australia), English and French.
Anyway, I digress. Happy People Read & Drink Coffee, a title that spoke to my soul. I picked it up this morning knowing that there was something else I should read first, but it wasn’t here yet so I was going to start it anyway… and the other one turned up. So I thought about it a little and in the end I was just grabbed by this one and finished it.
Diane’s wonderful life is left if tatters after the tragic accident that leaves her alone, mourning the loss of her husband and young daughter. Over a year later she is still struggling; she hasn’t been back to work, she hasn’t been to the cemetery, she hasn’t packed anything up and her best friend Felix is starting to get really concerned.
With such a heartbreaking beginning I wasn’t sure what to expect. Diane’s heartbreak was palpable and I couldn’t help but feel for her. I couldn’t imagine such a loss but I could understand the way in which she grieved. Time passed and those close to her wanted to see her start to live again, and that’s understandable too, but she needed the time to decide she was ready.
Flamboyant best friend Felix decides it’s time to get back into the world and wants to take Diane on a holiday, and he’s determined. The fear of the holiday Felix will plan is enough to make Diane take drastic measures, she decides to take control and find somewhere for herself to go. A tiny beachside town in Ireland is the destination and everyone is against the idea.
Diane says she’s leaving to try and start looking to the future, to start living again, but she’s really only saying what she thinks everyone needs to hear. Her plan is to find somewhere quiet and far away to hide with her memories and her grief.
Her desire to get away to somewhere quiet and isolated is thwarted when the small Irish town is very friendly and close knit making it a little difficult for her to keep to herself. The only person who isn’t friendly is her neighbour, and they are at constant loggerheads.
Happy People Read & Drink Coffee is Diane’s slow emergence from her cocoon of grief. Her return from the abyss and first steps back into her life.
One thing that really jumped out at me and had me wondering how long ago the book was originally published was the smoking. I was a smoker for a very long time so I certainly have nothing against it but the current trend is to try and get everyone away from smoking so the amount of smoking in this book surprised me, it could be a cultural thing too I guess but it certainly struck me. Lots of smoking inside and constant smoking, and not only from Diane which could have been understood in her frame of mind. It struck me as something more 80s than current. Not to forget the drunken driving home from the pub.
Diane starts to come back to the world and I started to wonder where the story was going to go, was this going to become a romance or a rebound or a drought breaker but it was none of these things. It was a poignant return to life, a reminder that the world is still out there and no matter how hard you tried your days aren’t up; a tale of strength and resilience.
Happy People Read and Drink Coffee is the story or a sheltered young woman thrown under the wheels of the bus of life and slowly edging her way back from the brink to walk again. A young woman who had to learn to stand on her own, which she had never had to do before, and now she had to do it as she put together the pieces of her shattered heart and her crushed life.
I think this is going to make a beautiful movie and I would actually be interested in checking it out, and I don’t watch a lot of movies.
The characters are interesting and well developed, and all are facing their demons.
I really quite enjoyed this one and it certainly went quicker than I anticipated. It is translated from French and the translation is pretty seamless. The story still has a beautiful flow, it’s not stilted and it will appeal to many but it is one to read with caution depending on how closely you have felt this kind of loss.
Happy People Read & Drink Coffee is available now through Allen & Unwin, Booktopia, Angus & Robertson Bookworld and where all good books are sold.
Thanks to Allen & Unwin 25 of our Beauty and Lace Club Members will be reading Happy People Read & Drink Coffee so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
I thoroughly enjoyed Anges Martin-Lugand’s ‘Happy People Read And Drink Coffee’. I was drawn into the story immediately and finished reading it today after getting it only in the post a few hours ago.
The book, while short, had me feeling for the main character Diane as she faces a horrible tragedy and finds the only way to deal with (or maybe runaway from) her situation is by moving away from her comfort zone – her home town, workplace, best friend and family. She escape to a small Irish town and slowly lets her guard down to meet some of the town folk whom she befriends. In particular her neighbor. At first he is unfriendly but soon their friendship develops and Diane finds the courage and determination to live life again and pick up from where she left off.
The ending left me wanting to read more and I would definitely recommend this book and I will be looking out for more of Anges Martin-Lugand’s books.
It will also be great to see this story on the big screen!
Thanks Beauty and Lace and Arena Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to read this great little book.
‘Happy People Read and Drink Coffee’ is a very short novel so a quick weekend read.
Diane the owner of a literary café called ‘Happy People Read and Drink Coffee’ tragically loses her husband and daughter in a car accident a year before the story starts. Diane hasn’t left the house in the year and her best friend and manager of the café, Felix, is trying his best to get Diane to begin living life again. Diane sick of everyone forcing their thoughts and way of living upon her makes a rash decision to go to Ireland where her husband had always wanted to go.
Diane just ups and leaves and this is where the story moves from Diane being a solitary being to her discovering life again.
She moves into a cottage in a small Irish village with the neighbour from hell – Edward. The relationship starts off poorly following a lot of horrible moments and then they are suddenly thrown together in a romance but not all is at seems.
There are some very sad moments within the story and I did find it a little awkward at times but I couldn’t put it down till I found out what happens between Diane and Edward.
I was hoping for so much more so I guess I’ll have to wait for the sequel!
Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this title.
I took two days to read “Happy people read and drink coffee” by Anges Martin-Lugand. I couldn’t put it down.
Diane’s anger and sadness in losing both her husband and daughter in an accident had me feeling sorry and sad for her. Spending her days smoking and barely eating.
I did admire her strength in moving to Ireland, to help her heal and discover living again.
The love that develops between her and Edward is full of twists and surprises and the ending has left me wondering what will happen, eager for the story to continue…..
The front cover of this book says
The International Bestseller and I can understand why, Agnes Martin Lugand has written a beautiful book, Diane is the main character who suffers a terrible loss at the beginning of the book, she has a dear friend Felix who is trying to help her as much as possible, Dianne decides to go to Ireland she stays in a small remote village, meets her neighbour called Edward and a love forms but well won’t say what happens don’t want to spoil for readers, thanks for allowing me to read Happy People Read and Drink Coffee am sure it will be made into a great moviev
I finished this book in two days which is a record for me – read it while I was recovering from bronchitis and it kept me thoroughly engrossed. I wanted to know what would happen at the end.
There were occasions throughout where I thought the conversation between the two main characters was a bit unbelievable but overall I really enjoyed the book especially as I have been through a major life change at the age of 40 and have ended up single, living alone for the first time in my life, close to depression and suffering anxiety as the main character Dianne does after the loss of her husband and daughter at such a young age.
Can’t wait to see the movie when it comes out to compare. The books are always better.
‘Happy People Read and Drink coffee’ is a great title! And the story of Diane engaged me as a reader from page 1. But Diane is anything but happy having lost her husband and daughter in a car accident and withdraws with grief over the loss. I was kind of sad to learn through the story that she was not that engaged in the running of the cafe/book shop before the accident – and after the accident she is totally disengaged, instead allowing her friend and business partner Felix to run it (and none too well it seems).
In order to escape from her grief Diane decides to move to a little town in Ireland where she meets the interesting and intriguing (and angry and bad tempered) Edward. And of course, sparks erupt between them!
This is a interesting book and a fast read! Dianne is a sad character and I think more correctly this book should have been called ‘Sad people smoke, cry and fight’ because that is what she spends most of the book doing.
The book is a translation from the french – perhaps the subtlety of the story was lost in translation. Either way I was happy to read to the end – and the ending was surprising! I can well imagine and look forward to the film
This is a very unexpected little novel, in the best possible way. It’s quite likely that it won’t be what you expect when you pick it up, and yet it’s deeply moving and memorable.
I do have to say that if you’ve lost someone recently, this may not be the best book to read. Its’ depiction of grief is searing, one of the most realistic I’ve read, and although no-one experiences grief in exactly the same way, this connected deeply with my experience. At times it was difficult to read.
Diane is young and happy – until her husband and young daughter are killed in a car accident. She feels she should have died with them, and for a while seems to be trying to do that. She lets her business (a literary cafe) languish; she doesn’t leave her flat and relies on her friend and business partner, Felix, to deliver vital supplies.
Now, most people don’t have the luxury of hiding out like Diane has, but I suspect that most people who’ve experienced a deep grief know the feeling. Who wouldn’t like to draw the curtains and refuse to engage with the callous world that keeps on as before?
Diane’s parents are unsupportive and unhelpful, and many are shocked by her particular expressions of grief. This, too, rang very true; many people struggle with how they need and want to express grief, and the way other people expect them to. Felix is quietly understanding, but even he eventually feels a point has been reached when he needs to start pushing Diane to re-engage with the world. Diane reacts by running away; she picks up and moves to a random small town in Ireland.
There, among strangers, she finds friendship and understanding. And perhaps, with the handsome photographer who lives next door, more. Perhaps a reason to start living again?
There is a stilted nature to much of the dialogue in the novel. This may be because this was translated from French – dialogue often seems stilted in translations. For me this gave a kind of gawky charm to the book, like a teenager not quite used yet to their new height. It also gave a welcome distance from some of the emotions in the book. However, the stilted dialogue is the only thing I can fault here.
This is a story about grief, and recovery. It comes with an ending that reflects that, and reflects that you don’t just wake up one day over your grief. It’s raw, and honest, and one of the most accurate depictions of grief I’ve ever read. Even so, this is not a miserable book. It is sad in places – many places – but will also leave you feeling hopeful. Highly recommended.
I love that statement – “gawky like a teenager not quite used to their new height”. It made me nod my head and smile
Happy people read and drink coffee review….
This tittle to start with interested me, and in reading slowly through the book, yes I found the lady is a coffee drinker, and like myself, loves to read books of all sorts…, always her ambition to open what we perhaps would call a lending library, and she is able to do this… The story starts that she is packing for herself daughter and husband to go away on a holiday, now you will have to go from there. I can follow the thread but it is one of those that I just also could not put down.. I can understand what she is going through and how with the help of others, she can finallly come to terms with what happened, and is able to realise that she was not to blame for what happened.. Sometimes it is hard to understand the way people accept what has happened in their life, but in the end Dianne is able to come back to her books and library and friends, like Felix , pick up the threads, and start again… It should be a great movie and I look forward to it eventually when it comes to the screen. This is a book I shall put in my bookshelves and read again perhaps in twelve months time…. because I too love words, and the sentences they make, and the books they become.
I was so attracted to the title Happy People read & drink Coffee, but for me this book was a real let down.
I could not connect with any of the main characters in this book. Although I felt for Diane’s situation at having lost her husband and daughter in a terrible way, she really was the most sorry character in the book. Her ‘love interest’ Edward was just an angry person and didn’t seem to add anything to the story. The most entertaining character was Felix, her gay business partner. The whole book lacked a plausible story to it and left me wanting so much more.
I cannot understand how it is an international best seller, and I think they would struggle to make a decent movie out of this book.
Thank you Beauty & Lace for the opportunity to review this book, but unfortunately it was not for me.
What a beautifully written, heart wrenching book! Do not open this book unless you are prepared for everything. Its not often I find myself sobbing uncontrollably over a book but the skill and creativity used to build the characters and tie you into the story soon have you riding the emotional roller coaster along with the characters!
This story hits a fear that we all have, that of losing someone well before their time and with something that you couldnt control. How Diane copes with what happens may or may not agree with you but grief has no rules, no right or wrong way.
After reading the book I found myself with needing more, for me it was too short and I would have liked it to have continued with a little more depth into some of the backgrounds of the characters.
All in all a good read!