We Only Saw Happiness

No cover — Anthea Bell, Grégoire Delacourt: We Only Saw Happiness (2017, Orion Publishing Group, Limited)

320 pages

English language

Published Feb. 8, 2017 by Orion Publishing Group, Limited.

ISBN:: 978-1-4746-0099-6

(1 review)

Antoine's parents fell in love at first sight. But they quickly realised that true love means more than furtive glances. Married too young, and with three small children, Antoine's mother retreats into a world of Sagan novels and cigarette smoke, abandoning the family when Antoine's sister dies. He grows up with a distant father, his only respite the tenderness he shares with his surviving sister. Then Antoine meets Natalie, the woman of his dreams. They have two children and Antoine thrives in his work for an insurance company, investigating claims to reduce his firm's pay-outs. But soon Natalie drifts away from him, beginning an affair, and Antoine loses his job when he lets his heart overrule his head. Driven to despair, he does something unspeakable. Antoine's journey to come to terms with the terrible thing he has done will take him across seas and continents, deep into his own heart …

Antoine's parents fell in love at first sight. But they quickly realised that true love means more than furtive glances. Married too young, and with three small children, Antoine's mother retreats into a world of Sagan novels and cigarette smoke, abandoning the family when Antoine's sister dies. He grows up with a distant father, his only respite the tenderness he shares with his surviving sister. Then Antoine meets Natalie, the woman of his dreams. They have two children and Antoine thrives in his work for an insurance company, investigating claims to reduce his firm's pay-outs. But soon Natalie drifts away from him, beginning an affair, and Antoine loses his job when he lets his heart overrule his head. Driven to despair, he does something unspeakable. Antoine's journey to come to terms with the terrible thing he has done will take him across seas and continents, deep into his own heart and the hearts of others, as he is forced to question what a life is really worth.

2 editions

Stephanie Jane reviewed We only saw happiness by Grégoire Delacourt

Didn't quite reach its potential

3 stars

We Only Saw Happiness takes its title from a brief scene within the story where our narrator, Antoine, is looking back over a selection of family photographs and observes that, from only viewing these scenes, his childhood was a wonderfully happy one. In truth it wasn't and we get to learn both how Antoine feels his parents let him down and how he is determined to do better by his children. That he fails in some way is hinted at in the synopsis and is a menacing presence throughout the story. Antoine's childhood was beset by misfortune so I could understand his grumbling to a certain extent. However, he is the type of person who needs to apportion blame and I did get a little weary of him whining about what his parents did (or didn't do), and how he felt himself hampered by his introversion and low self esteem. …

We Only Saw Happiness takes its title from a brief scene within the story where our narrator, Antoine, is looking back over a selection of family photographs and observes that, from only viewing these scenes, his childhood was a wonderfully happy one. In truth it wasn't and we get to learn both how Antoine feels his parents let him down and how he is determined to do better by his children. That he fails in some way is hinted at in the synopsis and is a menacing presence throughout the story. Antoine's childhood was beset by misfortune so I could understand his grumbling to a certain extent. However, he is the type of person who needs to apportion blame and I did get a little weary of him whining about what his parents did (or didn't do), and how he felt himself hampered by his introversion and low self esteem. I empathised, but also felt that by the point in his life from where he is narrating this tale Antoine should have overcome this debilitating shyness - especially in light of actions I can't reveal in this review!

Delacourt created interesting characters for other members of Antoine's family and I would loved to know more particularly about his Sagan-reading mother and about his sister, Anne. Anne is wonderful! The novel is nicely French in its style and attitudes so I enjoyed immersing myself into that culture. Personally, I didn't feel as though I truly anticipated Antoine's downfall to the extent that it goes. I thought his actions felt too far removed from his previous behaviour so I would be interested to know what other readers think. I wouldn't have forgiven him either, but that would have ruined the heart-warming aspect of this story! Overall I enjoyed this quirky novel. Unfortunately it touches on similar themes as Resin by Ane Riel and didn't blow my mind like that book so I felt underwhelmed. Had I read We Only Saw Happiness a day earlier, I might well have rated it 4 stars rather than 3. Let's call it 3.5.

Subjects

Fiction, general