2024 Polari Prize for Best Book (longlist)
'I am fully in awe of Dolan's talent' DOUGLAS STUART
'A dazzling follow-up to Exciting Times' KATHERINE HEINY
'Beautiful' PANDORA SYKES
Meet the wedding party:
THE BRIDE AND GROOM
Celine and Luke are meant to get married and live happily ever after. But Celine's more interested in playing the piano, and Luke's a serial cheater.
THE BRIDESMAID
Phoebe, Celine's sister, is meant to finish college and get a real job. Instead she pulls pints, lives with six flatmates, and has no long-term aspirations beyond smoking her millionth cigarette.
THE BEST MAN
Archie, Luke's best friend and ex-boyfriend, is meant to move up the corporate ladder and on from Luke. Yet he stands where he is, admiring the view.
THE GUEST
Vivian, Luke's other best friend and other ex, was meant to put up with Luke's bullshit when they dated. But she didn't. And now she is contented, methodically observing her friends like ants.
As the wedding approaches and these five lives intersect, each character will find themselves looking for a path to their happily ever after - but does it lie at the end of an aisle?
Genre: General Fiction
'A dazzling follow-up to Exciting Times' KATHERINE HEINY
'Beautiful' PANDORA SYKES
Meet the wedding party:
THE BRIDE AND GROOM
Celine and Luke are meant to get married and live happily ever after. But Celine's more interested in playing the piano, and Luke's a serial cheater.
THE BRIDESMAID
Phoebe, Celine's sister, is meant to finish college and get a real job. Instead she pulls pints, lives with six flatmates, and has no long-term aspirations beyond smoking her millionth cigarette.
THE BEST MAN
Archie, Luke's best friend and ex-boyfriend, is meant to move up the corporate ladder and on from Luke. Yet he stands where he is, admiring the view.
THE GUEST
Vivian, Luke's other best friend and other ex, was meant to put up with Luke's bullshit when they dated. But she didn't. And now she is contented, methodically observing her friends like ants.
As the wedding approaches and these five lives intersect, each character will find themselves looking for a path to their happily ever after - but does it lie at the end of an aisle?
Genre: General Fiction
Praise for this book
"I just finished The Happy Couple and I loved it - an extremely funny examination of modern love, with depth, bite and poignancy. It will stay with me for long after I turned the final page." - Daisy Buchanan
"A cracking ensemble, The Happy Couple is a beautiful sonata about our relationships and a sad fugue for fear and loneliness. The book is a tough, all-engrossing love-test. Dolan's acerbic humour is unapologetically analytical. She breaks the rule of intimacy with wit and panache that are second to none. I was kept on tenterhooks till the last few pages and my heart wouldn't stop pounding afterwards. I don't want to say goodbye to Luke and Celine." - Kit Fan
"Sassy and smart and wickedly funny, Dolan's voice is uniquely her own. I inhaled every irreverent page." - Ruth Gilligan
"The Happy Couple is a dazzling follow-up to Exciting Times. Dolan spins her magic again with humour and insight and the sharpest of prose. Not a word out of place." - Katherine Heiny
"I pure LOVED The Happy Couple. So witty, observant, wise and funny. Nihilistic about heteronormative relationships but so charmingly done I barely noticed. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed it." - Marian Keyes
"A sophisticated character study of a young couple coming to terms with their relationship, in this biting, whip-smart look at modern love and the tangled messes we leave behind us. I am fully in awe of Dolan's talent. And so glad my twenties are over." - Douglas Stuart
"Endlessly funny, endlessly inventive - a bold and stylish novel that slipped down and burned like a shot of something lovely." - Rebecca Wait
"A cracking ensemble, The Happy Couple is a beautiful sonata about our relationships and a sad fugue for fear and loneliness. The book is a tough, all-engrossing love-test. Dolan's acerbic humour is unapologetically analytical. She breaks the rule of intimacy with wit and panache that are second to none. I was kept on tenterhooks till the last few pages and my heart wouldn't stop pounding afterwards. I don't want to say goodbye to Luke and Celine." - Kit Fan
"Sassy and smart and wickedly funny, Dolan's voice is uniquely her own. I inhaled every irreverent page." - Ruth Gilligan
"The Happy Couple is a dazzling follow-up to Exciting Times. Dolan spins her magic again with humour and insight and the sharpest of prose. Not a word out of place." - Katherine Heiny
"I pure LOVED The Happy Couple. So witty, observant, wise and funny. Nihilistic about heteronormative relationships but so charmingly done I barely noticed. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed it." - Marian Keyes
"A sophisticated character study of a young couple coming to terms with their relationship, in this biting, whip-smart look at modern love and the tangled messes we leave behind us. I am fully in awe of Dolan's talent. And so glad my twenties are over." - Douglas Stuart
"Endlessly funny, endlessly inventive - a bold and stylish novel that slipped down and burned like a shot of something lovely." - Rebecca Wait
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Used availability for Naoise Dolan's The Happy Couple