A searing and sharp debut novel about the complexities of gender, power, race and fame, told through a young woman's destructive relationship with a legendary writer
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'Like Happiness is a deft and touching coming of age story that resists easy answers to very thorny questions-about sexual consent and power, about fame and persona, about making and loving art.' Rumaan Alam, bestselling author of Leave the World Behind
'An epic unraveling of every love story trope, reclaimed as something sharp, seething, unsettling, and true. Yes, this has page flipping plot momentum, but it's also a whip smart critique of race in America, art making in the age of neoliberal 'feminism,' and the crushing humor of trying to exist as a quiet person with big wants' T Kira Madden, author of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls
'Like Happiness is a stunning swirl of a coming of age novel about power, manipulation, and complicity. In Tatum, Ursula Villarreal-Moura has created an eminently relatable character. Readers will connect to her love of books, her complicated relationships, and the different ways she grapples with understanding herself--in relation to class, sexuality, race, and family ties. This is the start of a brilliant career.' Megan Giddings, author of The Women Could Fly and Lakewood
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The book leaps out at her in the bookstore: a diamond-studded Puerto Rico constellation gracing a black vellum cover, with an enigmatic name - M. Domínguez - in the lower right-hand corner. For Tatum Vega, out of place at a prestigious East Coast college, it is a lifeline. She writes her first piece of fan mail to the author. When he writes back, she finds herself drawn into an all-consuming and undefinable relationship with the older, charismatic Domínguez.
Over a decade later, Tatum has constructed a new life for herself, but when a reporter contacts her out the blue, this careful separation from her former existence crumbles. Domínguez has been accused of assault by another woman, and the reporter is looking for corroboration. Searching for clarity, Tatum decides to tell her story in a different way: in the form of a letter to Domínguez, recounting and reclaiming the totality of their decades-long relationship from the day they met to the shocking night it all imploded.
Genre: Literary Fiction
__________
'Like Happiness is a deft and touching coming of age story that resists easy answers to very thorny questions-about sexual consent and power, about fame and persona, about making and loving art.' Rumaan Alam, bestselling author of Leave the World Behind
'An epic unraveling of every love story trope, reclaimed as something sharp, seething, unsettling, and true. Yes, this has page flipping plot momentum, but it's also a whip smart critique of race in America, art making in the age of neoliberal 'feminism,' and the crushing humor of trying to exist as a quiet person with big wants' T Kira Madden, author of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls
'Like Happiness is a stunning swirl of a coming of age novel about power, manipulation, and complicity. In Tatum, Ursula Villarreal-Moura has created an eminently relatable character. Readers will connect to her love of books, her complicated relationships, and the different ways she grapples with understanding herself--in relation to class, sexuality, race, and family ties. This is the start of a brilliant career.' Megan Giddings, author of The Women Could Fly and Lakewood
__________
The book leaps out at her in the bookstore: a diamond-studded Puerto Rico constellation gracing a black vellum cover, with an enigmatic name - M. Domínguez - in the lower right-hand corner. For Tatum Vega, out of place at a prestigious East Coast college, it is a lifeline. She writes her first piece of fan mail to the author. When he writes back, she finds herself drawn into an all-consuming and undefinable relationship with the older, charismatic Domínguez.
Over a decade later, Tatum has constructed a new life for herself, but when a reporter contacts her out the blue, this careful separation from her former existence crumbles. Domínguez has been accused of assault by another woman, and the reporter is looking for corroboration. Searching for clarity, Tatum decides to tell her story in a different way: in the form of a letter to Domínguez, recounting and reclaiming the totality of their decades-long relationship from the day they met to the shocking night it all imploded.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Like Happiness is a deft and touching coming of age story that resists easy answers to very thorny questions-about sexual consent and power, about fame and persona, about making and loving art." - Rumaan Alam
"Like Happiness is a stunning swirl of a coming of age novel about power, manipulation, and complicity. In Tatum, Ursula Villarreal-Moura has created an eminently relatable character. Readers will connect to her love of books, her complicated relationships, and the different ways she grapples with understanding herself-in relation to class, sexuality, race, and family ties. This is the start of a brilliant career." - Megan Giddings
"Thanks to Villarreal-Moura, I found another perfect book to recommend for both Sunday reads and subway commutes - my favorite kind! The retrospective confession of San Antonio-native Tatum about her thorny relationship with a prominent Nuyorican writer intertwines desire, destiny, and a love for art and literature in what feels like a transformative conversation with an old friend. Expertly written with striking intimacy and heartbreaking clarity, Like Happiness accomplishes a profound emotional electrocution that will leave you floating lighter for days." - Xochitl Gonzalez
"Like Happiness is a stunning swirl of a coming of age novel about power, manipulation, and complicity. In Tatum, Ursula Villarreal-Moura has created an eminently relatable character. Readers will connect to her love of books, her complicated relationships, and the different ways she grapples with understanding herself-in relation to class, sexuality, race, and family ties. This is the start of a brilliant career." - Megan Giddings
"Thanks to Villarreal-Moura, I found another perfect book to recommend for both Sunday reads and subway commutes - my favorite kind! The retrospective confession of San Antonio-native Tatum about her thorny relationship with a prominent Nuyorican writer intertwines desire, destiny, and a love for art and literature in what feels like a transformative conversation with an old friend. Expertly written with striking intimacy and heartbreaking clarity, Like Happiness accomplishes a profound emotional electrocution that will leave you floating lighter for days." - Xochitl Gonzalez
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