One of O: The Oprah Magazine's O Mag's Most Anticipated Books of 2021One of Publishers Weekly's Top 10 picks for Spring 2021
'Joan Silber writes with a frankness and freshness that drawsthe reader closer with every page. It would be impossible to overstate just howgood this book is.' - Ann Patchett
Ethan, a young lawyer in New York, learns that his father has long kept a second family - awife and two kids living in Queens. In the aftermath of this revelation, Ethan's mother spends ayear travelling abroad, returning much changed, just as her now ex-husband falls ill. Acrosstown, Ethan's half brothers are caught in their own complicated journeys: one brother'spenchant for minor delinquency has escalated and the other must travel to Bangkok to bail himout, while the bargains their mother struck about love and money continue to shape all theirlives.
As Ethan finds himself caught in a love triangle of his own, the interwoven fates of these twohouseholds elegantly unfurl to touch many other figures, revealing secret currents of empathyand loyalty, the bounty of improvised families and the paradoxical ties that weave throughlife's rich contours. With a generous and humane spirit, Secrets of Happiness elucidates theways people marshal the resources at hand in an effort to find joy.
'Joan Silber's translucent, morallyattentive prose does something to the vision as well as the spirit: if you can look upfrom it, you'll find your own world altered - rinsed clean, and luminous.' - CharlotteWood