She looks down at her journal, where she’s scrawled a few notes for the book.
Marriage starts with a vow, a promise, but it’s actually a series of promises, over months and years, commitment and recommitment. Family is also about noticing, about the little things, she’d written, thinking of Amanda’s silly paperweight, that we miss when we distract ourselves with the things that seem bigger, more urgent, in the moment.
She hears a noise behind her and turns. Jason.
“Hi,” she says.
“Good morning.” He sits down next to her and rubs his eyes, then plays with the hem of his old T-shirt. There is still a distance between them, but it’s closing, slowly but steadily, a little bit each day.
“What are you doing?” he says, motioning toward the journal.
“Oh, nothing,” she says. “Just thinking.” She puts down her pen. He reaches across her for her mug and takes a sip from her coffee, and she narrows her eyes at him, jokingly. He puts it down between them, smiling just a little. He holds out his hand, and she takes it.
Acknowledgments
I feel like the luckiest author in the world to have worked with the same editor, Emily Griffin, since I published my first novel almost ten years ago. Emily, you are such a sharp, skilled editor and I am so fortunate to get to collaborate with you once again. Katherine Fausset, my literary agent, has been wonderfully enthusiastic about this particular story from the start, and is a guiding force throughout my fiction career, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have her in my corner. (More lunches in New Orleans, please.)
Thank you to everyone at HarperCollins, particularly Falon Kirby, a PR pro who makes the nerve-racking work of book publicity fun, Megan Looney, Amber Oliver, Suzette Lam, and Amanda Hong.
Special thanks to Dr. Laurie Santos, an actual happiness professor at Yale University, who bears zero resemblance to the main character in this book but gave me such great information to work with as I was writing.
Independent bookstores do so much for authors, and I can’t miss the opportunity to thank the teams at my two locals: One More Page in Arlington, Virginia, and Bard’s Alley in my hometown of Vienna, Virginia. I could not be more grateful to you all for getting my books into readers’ hands.
Finally, to Jay and the girls: I love our happy life. Thank you for cheering me on.
About the Author
KRISTYN KUSEK LEWIS is the author of Half of What You Hear, Save Me, and How Lucky You Are. A former magazine editor at publications including Glamour and Child, Kristyn has been writing for national publications for nearly twenty years. She lives in the Washington, DC, area with her family.
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Praise for Kristyn Kusek Lewis
Half of What You Hear
“Detox from the holidays with Kristyn Kusek Lewis’s novel of a small and well-to-do Virginia town, its meddlesome residents, and the decades of secrets within its walls.”
—InStyle
“The fast pace and intriguing mystery make this one perfect for fans of Big Little Lies. A compelling look at the power of small-town gossip.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Fans of Emily Giffin and Sally Hepworth will appreciate this enjoyable family drama.”
—Booklist
“A character-driven, dishy, gossipy, fun read. . . . A fine story that will move readers to look for other books by this talented author.”
—New York Journal of Books
“An astute, exquisite account of a gossipy small town. . . . Mesmerizing and entertaining.”
—Washington BookReview
“Exciting and addicting. . . . You’ll have a hard time putting it down this holiday season.”
—Women.com
“The story won’t end where you expect it to, and its strong women’s-relationships theme underscores many truths.”
—NJ.com
“This engrossing novel has everything: a web of secrets, gossip, and lies, and a heroine you’ll be cheering for. . . . Delightful.”
—Jennifer Close, author of Girls in White Dresses
“A delicious, insightful page-turner set in a genteel Virginia town where everyone knows your secrets.”
—Kristin Harmel, international bestselling author of The Room on Rue Amélie and The Sweetness of Forgetting
“Imagine a Liane Moriarty novel served with a tall glass of sweet tea and you’ll have Half of What You Hear. . . . Utterly captivating.”
—Camille Pagán, bestselling author of Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties
“Incredibly intriguing, Half of What You Hear is a must-read that artfully delves its way through the layers of gossip, secrets, and lies of the small and seemingly charming town of Greyhill.”
—Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, bestselling authors of Girls’ Night Out
Praise for Save Me
“Lewis gets it just right in her examination of how tiny cracks can shatter in a marriage that gets ‘cemented in the fable’ of what being together is supposed to be.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An emotional roller-coaster of a read. . . . It’s a testament to Lewis’s great writing and is an absolutely fantastic read.”
—RT Book Reviews
“As thought-provoking as it is thoughtful. . . . Absorbing, compelling, and a pleasure to read, this book is a page-turner.”
—Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
“Kristyn Kusek Lewis defines heartbreak with deep understanding and compassion in Save Me. . . . Lewis portrays neither angels nor demons, but the aching reality that marriage can become, along with the possibility of grace that love offers.”
—Randy Susan Meyers, author of Accidents of Marriage
How Lucky You Are
“Fans of women’s fiction about enduring female friendships will relate to debut author Lewis’s vivid and genuinely written protagonists. A good choice for readers who enjoy the novels of Kristin Hannah.”
—Library Journal
“Charming and achingly real. . . . I’m certain it will become a book club favorite.”
—Sarah Jio, New York Times bestselling author of The Violets of March and The Bungalow
Also by Kristyn Kusek Lewis
Half of What You Hear
Save Me
How Lucky You Are
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
PERFECT HAPPINESS. Copyright © 2020 by Kristyn Kusek Lewis. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Cover design by Sarah Brody
Cover photographs © Katie Noelle Charlton/Arcangel (flowers); © enviromantic/iStock/Getty Images (wilted stem)
FIRST EDITION
Digital Edition JUNE 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-296664-3
Version 04282020
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-296663-6 (pbk.)
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-300846-5 (library edition)
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