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Rafael Yglesias

A Happy Marriage: A Novel Hardcover – July 7, 2009

by Rafael Yglesias (Author)

4.1 188 ratings

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A stunningly candid and revelatory love story by an acclaimed novelist and screenwriter whose return to fiction after a long hiatus will be heralded by critics and readers.

In the 1970s Yglesias’s first novels, written while he was a teenager, were hailed by critics as the arrival of a young American genius. A Happy Marriage, his first novel in thirteen years, is a gorgeous and moving story about a thirty- year marriage, inspired by his own relationship with his wife, who died in 2004.

Told from the husband’s point of view, with revelatory and sometimes disarming candor, A Happy Marriage is the story of Enrique Sabas and his wife Margaret, alternating between the first three weeks of their acquaintance (a comic and romantic misadventure) and the bittersweet final weeks of Margaret’s life as she says goodbye to her family, friends, and children. Laced throughout with intimate recollections of moments of crises and joy from the middle years of their relationship, the novel charts the ebb and flow of marriage, illuminating the mysteries and magic of marital love.

Neither sentimental nor cynical, and written with an intense devotion to character and emotional suspense, A Happy Marriage reveals a partnership that brings maturityand great pleasure to the lives of two people. Bold, elegiac, and stunningly vivid, A Happy Marriage will break every reader’s heart—and perhaps infuse some marriages with greater love.

Print length

384 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Scribner
Publication date

July 7, 2009
Dimensions

9.25 x 1.5 x 6.25 inches
ISBN-10

1439102309
ISBN-13

978-1439102305
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Yglesias (Fearless) delivers his first novel in 13 years, an autobiographical and devastatingly raw appraisal of a nearly 30-year marriage. As the novel opens in 1975, 21-year-old Enrique Sabas, a high school–dropout literary wunderkind, has just met Margaret Cohen, a vivacious, beautiful budding graphic designer who will become the love of his life. Enrique and Margaret's romantic and sexual misadventures during the first awkward weeks of their courtship are interspersed with scenes from the couple's three decades together before Margaret succumbs to cancer: raising children, losing a parent, the temptation of an easy affair. Margaret's physical decline and Enrique's acknowledgment of guilt, inadequacy and a selfish desire to postpone his loss are described in blunt, heart-wrenching detail, and Enrique's ongoing struggles to define the nature of masculinity, the significance of art and the value of marriage add a philosophical layer to the domestic snapshots. Although the couple's privileged lifestyle can get in the way of the reader-character bond, the texture of their marriage and the pain of their loss will be familiar to anyone who has shared a long-term relationship. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Yglesias is brutally honest in this deeply personal account of his thorny, but ultimately loving, marriage. He tells the parallel stories of the beginning and the end of this relationship "in something of a tour de force of novelistic architecture" (New York Times), which strikes a fine balance between the heady excitement of budding romance and the agonizing loss of enduring love. Though the story line may seem predictable at first, Yglesias throws in enough twists, surprises, and emotional urgency to keep readers turning the pages, and his fully realized—if not always likeable—characters are wholly convincing. A "profound deliberation on the nature of love, marriage, and the process of dying" (New York Times), this visceral, poignant novel will break your heart.

Review

"[A] devastatingly raw appraisal of a nearly 30-year marriage...heart-wrenching." -- Publishers Weekly

"Rafael Yglesias's novel -- long and graceful and written to display an intimacy wincingly believable -- is about life, itself, not just one particular marriage. As the book alternates between past and present, we grow, along with the characters: as they jump boundaries, so do we; as they resign themselves to a sad inevitability, we feel viscerally cornered, too. It's a punch-in-the-stomach book, but the sharpness forces us to open our eyes wide. Impressive." -- Ann Beattie, author of Follies

"Yglesias mixes passion and pain in this deep and searing story of love. With unflinching honesty, he reveals the resilience of the human spirit in the face of illness and loss." -- Jerome Groopman, author of How Doctors Think

"A profound deliberation on the nature of love, marriage and the process of dying.... A tour de force... [Yglesias] has found the novel of his life." -- Dinitia Smith, New York Times

"Maybe marriage is the oldest story in the world, but in Mr. Yglesias' tender, funny, rueful telling, the lifelong relationship is the story of life itself." -- The Wall Street Journal

"Surprising and deeply affecting... A very brave book indeed." -- Nancy Connors, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

"Brave ... instantly compelling." -- Scott Muskin, Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"Beautiful... Yglesias is a superb and courageous writer.... [A] riveting portrait of enduring love, with all its grand imperfections." -- Karen Karbo, Bookforum

About the Author

Rafael Yglesias is an American novelist and screenwriter, the son of writers Jose and Helen Yglesias. He dropped out of high school upon publication of his first novel, Hide Fox, And All After in 1972 at age seventeen. He is the author of nine novels, including A Happy Marriage, winner of the 2009 Los Angeles Times Fiction Prize, Dr. Neruda's Cure For Evil and Fearless, which he adapted for the screen, and The Wisdom of Perversity. He also wrote the screenplays for Death and the Maiden, Les Miserables, From Hell, and Dark Water. He has two sons: Matthew Yglesias, a Fellow at the Center For American Progress, public intellectual and author of Heads In The Sand; Nicholas Yglesias is a fantasy novelist who has recently completed Succession, the first of a three volume trilogy. Rafael lives in the city of his birth, New York.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner; First Edition (July 7, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1439102309
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1439102305
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.25 x 1.5 x 6.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,874,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7,944 in Biographical Fiction (Books)
- #33,329 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
- #33,426 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.1 188 ratings

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Rafael Yglesias

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Rafael Yglesias is an American novelist and screenwriter born May 12, 1954. He dropped out of high school a year before the publication of his first novel, Hide Fox, And All After when he was 17. He is the author of eleven novels, including A Happy Marriage -- winner of the 2009 Los Angeles Times Fiction Prize -- The Wisdom of Perversity, Dr. Neruda's Cure For Evil and Fearless, which he adapted for the screen. The movie of Fearless was directed by Peter Weir and starred Jeff Bridges. Rafael also wrote the screenplays for Death And The Maiden, Les Miserables, From Hell, and Dark Water. He has two sons: Matthew Yglesias, a senior correspondent and co-founder of Vox.com; and Nicholas Yglesias, a fantasy and science fiction novelist. He is married to the novelist Ann Packer, with whom he now teams as a screen and television writer.

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4.1 out of 5

188 global ratings

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Bumble Bee

Life and love among people we know and where we live, not elsewhere

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2009

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This is not a book about finding happiness or love or your own self by discarding your past life, dissolving your relationships, travelling the world or retreating from it. Instead, it is a meditation on love, loss, attachment and happiness as it exists in life in the real world and among real people: at times exhilarating, confusing, intoxicating, frustrating, heart-breaking, contradictory and yet hopeful. There are no simple solutions, no neat ending with all loose ends tied up as in many novels and memoirs. The characters Enrique and Margaret, their family and friends, are all flawed and imperfect, and yet Yglesias' brilliance (this is my first book authored by him) as a writer is to make the reader feel empathy with these flawed characters, especially Enrique. Yglesias writes with rare subtlety about the complexity of the characters, allowing the reader to form their own opinions about the characters and the lives they lead. They are rendered human and not as caricatures, drawing the reader in as the novel moves along. Despite my mixed feelings about Enrique, I could not help feel empathy as the novel moved towards its climax, rooting for him. The story is purportedly based on Yglesias' real life marriage, and the touching and yet sometimes brutal honesty in the novel suggest it would have taken a lot of courage to write this novel. I have been reinterpreting the book and its main protagonists weeks after I finished the last page, and discovering layers and interpretations I did not grasp until I looked back at it. Much like real life and love, things sometimes make more sense only after having some distance and letting them settle in one's consciousness. The writing allows room for the reader to contribute to the whole experience and not be force-fed how to feel. In the end, this is a touching story about life and love as it exists, right here among the people we know and where we live, not in a faraway place or time.

4 people found this helpful

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Mitchell G. Shapiro

I knew this guy

Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2009

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When I saw the NY Times review, I recognized the author as the same kid that attended Horace Mann with me in the late-1960's; I had never read any of his works but this book picqued my interest. Even in seventh grade,Rafael Yglesias(Raf) knew he was or wanted to be a writer. He already held our poor English teachers in contempt as they struggled to challenge the precocious pubescents at our then all-male prestigious private school in the Bronx. Raf's claim to fame was his dropping out of high school ( after dropping out of Horace Mann) to publish his first novel at age 16.

A Happy Marriage ultimately is about a sad 30 year marriage. My wife wondered what the parents of Raf's deceased wife said about the book, which revealed early infidelity. (I presume the whole story is auto-biographical). Yglesias was able and willing, however, to dig deep into those dark places few people concede to visit.

It is easy to write poorly but a great challenge for most of us to write well. This book is a good and fast read about love found and lost. It made me cry here and cringe there.

If you have a fatal disease, and wonder what your healthy spouse's perspective might be of it, this maybe illuminating.

3 people found this helpful

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Eric Selby

Emotionally Draining Novel

Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2010

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I am surprised that some who have "reviewed" this intricate novel have read it rapidly. I simply could not do so.
This is a love story about a straight couple, Enrique and Margaret, who meet, marry, live happily together, raising two sons, and then...
The novel begins when they meet. Enrique is a very unique character, a Jewish Latino who dropped out of high school and published a successful novel. When he meets Margaret he is twenty-one, about to publish his third novel--this, of course, I found a little hard to believe--and finds a way to be invited to her apartment where he meets some of her friends at an "orphan's" gathering (people who don't have places to go for the up-coming holidays).
Then chapter two moves the reader into the end of their marriage. Margaret is dying of cancer. And the rest of the novel goes back and forth between their "courtship" and the agony of Margaret's dying. I found that details of what she endured excruiating. All the drugs and procedures and medical personnel to say nothing of how Margaret maps out her last fourteen days, scheduling people to say good bye to. So I don't find the negative reactions of some "reviewers" that surprising. For me, that is rather unbelievable, hence the four stars.
But the writing is so rich.

2 people found this helpful

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L. Bassin

It's up there with my 5 all time favorites

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2009

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Every once in a while, I find a book that makes me want to cancel the rest of what's going on in my daily life and just read. This is one of those books. I could not put it down. I loved the way it was written, and I felt the character development was some of the best I have read, but for me personally, this book touched me on so many levels. Perhaps because I had experienced loosing my mom the same way Greg and Max lost theirs, and the process that Margaret chose to control her ending was almost exactly the way she did it...reading about Enrique gave me a window to see what all my dad had to go through. Now, I am grown, and married with a bunch of kids,,,and there is a whole other story about marriage, family, how we develop and make choices, etc. I just think the author nailed the emotional diversity in one's family dynamics...he could have been writing about our family. I hated to see it come to an end. I am telling everyone I know to read it..I still think about it all the time even though I am finished. I think there is something in this book for everyone to read and love.

One person found this helpful

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L. S. Tate

Brave and heartbreaking

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2013

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This is Sue Hampton, using my husband's account. I finished this book a little while ago, having bought it because it was recommended in The Big Issue, my favourite magazine. I understand why. This detailed portrait of a long, slow death is so vivid that it's the closest I've ever come to virtual bereavement myself - or, in fact, since I identified so strongly with Margaret, to dying. Which is not what everyone wants from a novel, but which makes this a courageous attempt to tackle the unbearable head-on. Yglesias is an interesting writer. His style is uneven, sometimes a little stilted in its formality, sometimes excessive in its flourishes, but often satisfying, rich, sharp or musical, and above all, honest. I didn't especially like Enrique and I might not choose Margaret for a friend. The life they lived is in many ways very different from mine. But the universals of love and loss are explored so intimately that in the end, nothing else matters.

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