“This funny and bighearted debut is an ode to queer friendship and chosen family. . . . A tender and generous novel about finding your people, getting vulnerable, and celebrating every joy—big or small.”—BuzzFeed
Could I one day inspire happiness in others, the same way he seemed to do in me?
It’s 2005 and Harley has dropped out of college to move home, back to rural England, where he works a dead-end job at a movie theater. Estranged from his father and finding every attempt at happiness futile, Harley is on the verge of making a devastating final decision. Fortunately for him, things don’t go according to plan, and his attempt on his own life is interrupted by his new roommate, Muddy.
Muddy is everything Harley is not: ostensibly heterosexual, freewheeling, confident in his masculinity. Despite their differences, a deep friendship blossoms between them when Muddy takes Harley under his wing and shows him everything that, in his eyes, makes life worth living: bird-watching, karaoke, rugby, and the band Oasis.
But this newfound friendship is complicated. It has enormous repercussions for the pair’s romantically entangled friend group—for Chelsea, an overbearing striver whose generosity they begrudgingly rely on; for Finlay, her raffish and uncouth boyfriend; and for Noria, who despite her simmering confidence is smarting from a series of unreturned affections. And then there’s the violent affair with an older man that Harley finds himself slipping back into . . .
As secrets and jealousies endanger all that Harley has come to depend on, he finds himself faltering once again, even though he finally has something—and someone—to live for. Soul-stirring and witty, full of hope and peopled with characters who feel like close friends, Small Joys explores a young man’s turbulent journey toward happiness and announces the arrival of an exciting voice in fiction.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Could I one day inspire happiness in others, the same way he seemed to do in me?
It’s 2005 and Harley has dropped out of college to move home, back to rural England, where he works a dead-end job at a movie theater. Estranged from his father and finding every attempt at happiness futile, Harley is on the verge of making a devastating final decision. Fortunately for him, things don’t go according to plan, and his attempt on his own life is interrupted by his new roommate, Muddy.
Muddy is everything Harley is not: ostensibly heterosexual, freewheeling, confident in his masculinity. Despite their differences, a deep friendship blossoms between them when Muddy takes Harley under his wing and shows him everything that, in his eyes, makes life worth living: bird-watching, karaoke, rugby, and the band Oasis.
But this newfound friendship is complicated. It has enormous repercussions for the pair’s romantically entangled friend group—for Chelsea, an overbearing striver whose generosity they begrudgingly rely on; for Finlay, her raffish and uncouth boyfriend; and for Noria, who despite her simmering confidence is smarting from a series of unreturned affections. And then there’s the violent affair with an older man that Harley finds himself slipping back into . . .
As secrets and jealousies endanger all that Harley has come to depend on, he finds himself faltering once again, even though he finally has something—and someone—to live for. Soul-stirring and witty, full of hope and peopled with characters who feel like close friends, Small Joys explores a young man’s turbulent journey toward happiness and announces the arrival of an exciting voice in fiction.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"This heart-warming, witty, and moving debut is one of the most charming books you'll read this year. Exploring love, friendship, grief, and the bittersweet joy of being young, Small Joys is utterly beautiful." - Louise O'Neill
"I adored Small Joys--a sweet, moving, funny, strikingly open story. I don't know if I've ever rooted so much for a protagonist as I did for Harley . . . What a gorgeous novel." - Jennifer Saint
"I loved it. Small Joys is a wonderful book full of music, life, and a great deal of heart....An extremely BIG joy!" - Matson Taylor
"Breathtaking and heartrending, by turns hilarious and devastating and surprising and wild . . . Mensah's prose makes the intangible deft and tremendous--from the balm of friendship to the beauty of queerness to the all-encompassing elixir of community. Tender, thrilling, and honest, Small Joys is a beam of light." - Bryan Washington
"I adored Small Joys--a sweet, moving, funny, strikingly open story. I don't know if I've ever rooted so much for a protagonist as I did for Harley . . . What a gorgeous novel." - Jennifer Saint
"I loved it. Small Joys is a wonderful book full of music, life, and a great deal of heart....An extremely BIG joy!" - Matson Taylor
"Breathtaking and heartrending, by turns hilarious and devastating and surprising and wild . . . Mensah's prose makes the intangible deft and tremendous--from the balm of friendship to the beauty of queerness to the all-encompassing elixir of community. Tender, thrilling, and honest, Small Joys is a beam of light." - Bryan Washington
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