A Happy Marriage, Rafael Yglesias
A Happy Marriage, Rafael Yglesias
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A Happy Marriage
A Novel

Author: Rafael Yglesias

Narrator: Grover Gardner

Unabridged: 10 hr 18 min

Format: Digital Audiobook (DRM Protected)

Published: 01/21/2010

Synopsis

Both intimate and expansive, Rafael Yglesias’ autobiographical new novel is the story of the relationship between Enrique Sabas and his wife, Margaret. Spanning thirty years, the novel alternates between the romantic misadventures of the first weeks of their courtship and the final months of Margaret’s life as she says good-bye to her family, friends, and children—and to Enrique.Inspired by the author’s own marriage to his wife who died in 2004, this achingly honest story is about what it means for two people to spend a lifetime together—and what makes a happy marriage. Bold, elegiac, and emotionally suspenseful, Yglesias’ beautiful novel will break every reader’s heart, while encouraging all of us with its clear-eyed evocation of the enduring value of marriage.

About Rafael Yglesias

Rafael Yglesias is an American novelist and screenwriter. He dropped out of high school upon publication of his first novel in 1972 at age seventeen. He was married to Margaret from 1977 until her death in 2004. He is the author of nine novels, including Dr. Neruda’s Cure for Evil and Fearless, which he adapted for the screen. He has two grown sons and lives in New York’s Greenwich Village.

About Grover Gardner

Grover Gardner is an award-winning narrator with over a thousand titles to his credit. Named one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards, was chosen Narrator of the Year for 2005 by Publishers Weekly, and has earned more than thirty Earphones Awards.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Vanessa on December 04, 2023

It was a Sunday morning and my husband returned from his habitual coffee outing. I saw his car pull up outside and I expected him to walk through the front door a moment later, but he didn’t. Looking through the front window, I saw him sitting in his car, head bowed. Ten minutes later he came in, gl......more

Goodreads review by Kendall on October 03, 2009

What makes a happy marriage? Rafael Yglesias, prodigy novelist--he published his first novel at 16--and screenwriter, turns his considerable talent to answering that question in his new book, entitled appropriately enough, A Happy Marriage. It is no spoiler to say the answer turns out far too comple......more

Goodreads review by Kristen on September 28, 2011

This is a hard book to review. It’s not the sort of book I’m typically drawn to, but I heard the novelist interviewed on NPR and my interest was piqued. It’s a fictionalized version of the author’s own life and 30-year marriage with his wife Margaret, who passed away from cancer in 2004. It’s billed......more

Quotes

“Grover Gardner renders complex emotions to fine effect and rejects any temptation to infuse his narration with an inappropriate sentimentality. This is a stunning combination of clear-eyed writing and a compelling voice…Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.” AudioFile

“Will both touch and break hearts.” Marie Claire

“Brave…instantly compelling.” Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“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.” New York Times

“This is, fundamentally, the story of a happy marriage. But it’s not simple, because marriage—like love—isn’t static. And Enrique is ruthlessly honest in his quest to figure out what made his last…The mystery of what’s at the heart of a marriage can’t be unlocked, or even fully captured in words. But Enrique and Margaret are anything but common, distinct both as characters and in the endurance of their love.” New York Times Book Review

“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.” Wall Street Journal

“I can’t think of many examinations of long-term marriages in modern novels, and that alone makes Rafael Yglesias’ surprising and deeply affecting new work stand out. What’s more, it’s clearly autobiographical, yet deals evenhandedly with deeply painful subjects, which makes it a very brave book indeed.” Cleveland Plain Dealer

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

“Audie Award–winner Grover Gardner skillfully conveys the small and large tensions and drama that encapsulate this and most every other long-term relationship. For appreciators of literary fiction interested in more deeply exploring the subjects of relationships, cancer, death, and dying.” Library Journal

“[A] superb and courageous writer…Yglesias’ riveting portrait of enduring love, with all its grand imperfections, manages a tricky literary feat: warming your heart as he breaks it.” Bookforum

Awards

  • Los Angeles Times Book Prize
  • AudioFile Earphones Award
  • Indie Next List
  • San Francisco Chronicle Best Book
  • New York Times   Bestseller
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