Ju-Ju Briggs has just been released from prison in upstate New York. Now she's returning home to England. An art expert with an immaculate education, Ju-Ju is no typical criminal. Nor was her crime - the theft of a Tiffany-glass window from a Brooklyn cemetary - a straightforward one. Some might call it grave-robbing, others an act of conservation. For Ju-Ju it was an act of love. In their Cotswold house, Ju-Ju's parents are preparing a welcome party. This is no simple matter either. Daphne holds untold resentment against their daughter, the 'golden girl', Charles is ashamed. Ju-Ju's younger brother Charlie, and sister Sophie, both of whom have much to conceal, also have their own fears...As the family struggles to come to terms with Ju-Ju's crime, secrets are shed and emotions reach their pitch. No one will leave this party unchanged.
The Promise of Happiness
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'Justin Cartwright is one of our best novelists, but he still feels like a buried treasure.' Allison Pearson, Daily Telegraph Books of the Year 'Brilliant, dazzling, unsettling; subtle and haunting; complex and multi-layered; deeply moving... Cartwright manages to combine the thrilling readability of genre fiction with the unpredictability and strangeness of a literary master.' Independent on Sunday 'Cartwright is a beautifully evocative writer;also one who makes you think.' Scotsman
About the Author
Justin Cartwright was born in South Africa and educated in America and the UK. His books include the acclaimed Masai Dreaming, In Every Face I Meet which was shortlisted for the 1995 Booker Prize, Leading the Cheers which won the 1998 Whitbread Novel Award and most recently White Lightning, also shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel Award 2002. He lives in North London with his wife and two sons.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
35 of 38 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This book has had incredible reviews, and rightly so. It is a moving account of a family's attempts to come to terms with the fact that their eldest daughter, the golden girl of the family, has been imprisoned for an art theft. We get all five members of the family's point of view, and it ends with an astonishing scene when they are finally re-united. One critic, and I heartily agree, described this as the most moving book he has read in ten years. But a word of warning: it is not a feel-good,sentimental read, which is what some of the people who have written in expect. It is a genuine work of literature, but very accessible and very contemporary. Please, please read this if you are interested in the way we live now.
78 of 86 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a very rewarding book, a story of a family going through a challenging time, with the eldest daughter being released from prison, bringing all sorts of undercurrents to the surface of this typically middle class family. JoJo was convicted of fraudulently handling some antique windows, while working in New York. Her family in England coped with this in various ways, but the greatest impact was on her parents. Her father went into denial and during her two year incarceration was unable to bring himself to visit her in jail, leaving her mother to go by herself. When the time comes for her release, JoJo's brother goes across to meet her at the prison and to take her through a few days of acclimatisation during which he keeps in touch with the other family members by telephone as they anticipate the reunion a the family home in Cornwall.
The book is tense at times, largely centring on the relationship between the mother and father who find various way of not coping very well. There is also an element of the detective novel about this book as clearly, JoJo's conviction was not the best example of US justice and requires investigation by her brother, who delves into the truth behind it. I would rate this as an extremely well-written book which deserves the reputation is has gained since its release.
29 of 32 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
It's very rare to read a novel so full of ideas and observations, and to find at the same time that it is very enjoyable and easy to read. I couldn't put it down. It's about a family in crisis, but still agonisingly funny. The favourite daughter has been involved in an art theft in New York, and the novel opens on the day she is let out of prison. Her parents, Daphne and Charles, her sister Sophie and her brother Charlie are all wonderfully well described. Charles is having something of a crisis, unable to come to terms with his daughter's imprisonment. The book is crammed full of moving and - as I said - funny moments, and lays bare the soul of this family. There are also interesting observations on art, on families, on life as we live it now. Don't miss this book. They hype is definitely justified.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By Book Worm
Format:Paperback
I was so, so disappointed by this book, the reviews and online recommendations, had built my hopes up quite high.
But the book, was dull, laborious and tedious to read.
I've read better about family reactions, from different view points etc. Some of the characters were particularly unlikable, and it was very much written from a male view point. As a female, some of it was disheartening.
overall it lacked pace, and was overly concerned with how people find their true happiness, in an obvious pop psychology way, which grated more than anything.
67 of 78 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Justin Cartright is a writer with a fantastic ability to observe. In this case he has turned his attention to an English family, the Judds, whose lives have been turned upside down by the arrest of their eldest daughter, Juliet, in New York two years before. The book opens on the day she is released after two years. Each member of the family reacts differently.as they wait for her return to Cornwall. And each member of the family is superbly drawn. I am not surprised this has had such fantastic reviews. I read it straight through, unable to put it down. At times I thought the author must have known my own family.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Justin Cartwright always writes well about family life. In The Promise of Happiness he shows it with its ups and downs, joys and disappointments. Sometimes the feeling is that there are more disappointments than anything else.....
After many years of marriage Charles and Daphne Judd find they have less and less in common. Their daughter Juliet has just been released from prison in Ohio and will soon be home, still hurt by the fact that her father never once visited her in prison. Their younger daughter Sophie is at the end of a drug-fuelled few years and in a relationship with a man twenty years her senior. Son Charlie's internet business is thriving and he is living with "smouldering beauty" Ana. A wedding is being arranged - the only problem being that Charlie is no longer sure that he actually loves Ana. So potentially this is a family on the brink of disintegration. But, as Cartwright points out, families are like sea anemones, quick to close.
The narrative is particularly interesting the way in which we are given wrong, or incomplete information and the wider picture is only revealed much later on. Juliet seems to have coped well with prison life but later the real horror of her time inside spills out. Sophie's drug-taking is made to sound almost cool - then the reality of it all is revealed.
I liked the way Cartwright doesn't tie up all the loose ends and spell everything out to the reader. Some gaps are left that we can fill in for ourselves.
Perceptive and funny - and with a redemptive ending (well, sort of!)
After many years of marriage Charles and Daphne Judd find they have less and less in common. Their daughter Juliet has just been released from prison in Ohio and will soon be home, still hurt by the fact that her father never once visited her in prison. Their younger daughter Sophie is at the end of a drug-fuelled few years and in a relationship with a man twenty years her senior. Son Charlie's internet business is thriving and he is living with "smouldering beauty" Ana. A wedding is being arranged - the only problem being that Charlie is no longer sure that he actually loves Ana. So potentially this is a family on the brink of disintegration. But, as Cartwright points out, families are like sea anemones, quick to close.
The narrative is particularly interesting the way in which we are given wrong, or incomplete information and the wider picture is only revealed much later on. Juliet seems to have coped well with prison life but later the real horror of her time inside spills out. Sophie's drug-taking is made to sound almost cool - then the reality of it all is revealed.
I liked the way Cartwright doesn't tie up all the loose ends and spell everything out to the reader. Some gaps are left that we can fill in for ourselves.
Perceptive and funny - and with a redemptive ending (well, sort of!)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful book
Very moving, super well written as usual for Justin Cartwright book , I couldn't put the book down, I really recommend.
Published 1 month ago by E2436
4.0 out of 5 stars
Make up your own mind.
I've just read 'The Promise of Happiness' - the first Justin Cartwright book I own, but I will be buying, reading, and hopefully keeping, more. Read more
Published 3 months ago by lyssa
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marvellous!
Beautifully written and a compelling read. The characters are superbly drawn and their lives of quiet desperation brilliantly portrayed. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Tyler Durden
1.0 out of 5 stars
So bad that it's....well, just really bad.
This book is deeply flawed. It's failings are too numerous to list, but the jarring, unrealistic dialogue is my main bugbear. Read more
Published on 14 May 2010 by Bookworm1984
4.0 out of 5 stars
Charming, well-observed, funny and clever
I'm amazed at how polarised the reviews are on this page. I found Cartwright a very genial companion, his prose is so intelligent, light, witty and astute. Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2010 by William Cohen
1.0 out of 5 stars
Irritatingly poor
One of the most boring, pointless books I have read (although I must confess I skimmed the last few chapters). It neither entertains nor informs. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2010 by Finn
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pitch Perfect
In The Promise of Happiness Charles Judd surely utters the best line in contemporary fiction. It's worth waiting for. Read more
Published on 31 Oct 2009 by Jonathan Posner
2.0 out of 5 stars
The happiness promised not delivered
Sadly lightweight and contrived. Good idea. Shallow characterisations. A true 'Aga saga'. Justin Cartwright's credentials suggest it should have been better.
Published on 30 Sep 2009 by gardengran
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Promise of Happiness
This is the first novel by Justin Cartwright that I have read, and I certainly intend to read more. I found some of the incidents e.g. Read more
Published on 14 Aug 2009 by Antenna
4.0 out of 5 stars
Return of the Prodigal
I can see why this book has received such mixed reviews: it has some fine qualities, and some aspects which may well put some readers off. Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2009 by Ralph Blumenau
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