This is the story of a happy marriage is a collection of essays written by Ann Patchett over some years. These vary in length, covering a range of issues–marriage, divorce, being the primary caregiver of her grandmother and of her dog, on writing, and on being an independent bookseller. These function as a memoir, a fashionable genre, but Ann Patchett opts to put together and make available for public consumption only bits of her life. Funnily enough you do not yearn to know more than has been shared. My favourite three essays are the title essay, “The Getaway Car” ( published previously in Byliner https://www.byliner.com/originals/the-getaway-car ) and “The Bookstore strikes back” ( published previously in The Atlantic http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/12/the-bookstore-strikes-back/309164/).

It certainly has been a pleasure discovering this fabulous book. Definitely one of the books I am keeping for some years!

Ann Patchett This is the story of a happy marriage Bloomsbury, London, 2013. Pb. pp. 305. Rs. 450

1 Feb 2014