fairandfast1
Price: £1.00
In stock
47 used & new from £0.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
The Promise of Happiness
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

The Promise of Happiness (Hardcover)

by Justin Cartwright (Author)
3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


6 new from £0.99 36 used from £0.01 5 collectible from £0.01
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover £197.24 £198.35 6 used & new from £29.08
Paperback (Reprinted Edition) £7.99 £5.03 682 used & new from £0.01

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Song Before it is Sung

The Song Before it is Sung

by Justin Cartwright
4.7 out of 5 stars (9)  £4.99
Leading the Cheers

Leading the Cheers

by Justin Cartwright
4.3 out of 5 stars (7)  £4.99
To Heaven by Water

To Heaven by Water

by Justin Cartwright
4.7 out of 5 stars (3)  £10.23
White Lightning (Sceptre 21's)

White Lightning (Sceptre 21's)

by Justin Cartwright
£7.99
Masai Dreaming

Masai Dreaming

by Justin Cartwright
3.5 out of 5 stars (4)  £6.39
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (16 Aug 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0747570345
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747570349
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 474,620 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #16 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > C > Cartwright, Justin

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Review

'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


Time Out

With its devastating breadth of empathy, The Promise of Happiness is even better than 2002's White Lightning.
See all Product Description

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Promise of Happiness
63% buy the item featured on this page:
The Promise of Happiness 3.2 out of 5 stars (47)
The Song Before it is Sung
14% buy
The Song Before it is Sung 4.7 out of 5 stars (9)
£4.99
To Heaven by Water
13% buy
To Heaven by Water 4.7 out of 5 stars (3)
£10.23
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
7% buy
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 4.1 out of 5 stars (267)
£3.96
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

47 Reviews
5 star:
 (15)
4 star:
 (9)
3 star:
 (6)
2 star:
 (5)
1 star:
 (12)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.2 out of 5 stars (47 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
74 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read even if the happiness is rather elusive, 7 Mar 2005
By A Common Reader "Committed to reading" (Sussex, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: The Promise Of Happiness : (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.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a moving, funny and page turning book, 3 May 2005
By A Customer
This review is from: The Promise Of Happiness : (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.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars For once the hype is justified. Electrifying, 25 Jun 2005
By A Customer
This review is from: The Promise Of Happiness : (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.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

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 8 days ago 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 1 month ago 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 2 months ago by Mrs. E. R. Ellington

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 8 months ago by Ralph Blumenau

1.0 out of 5 stars Painfully dull
I read this in my book club at work and had fairly high hopes. If it wasn't for the fact that, as an English teacher, it would look fairly poor if I hadn't read the book, I would... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mrs. M. C. Holloway

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story!
I just don't understand the negative reviews of this book. It's well-written with sharp characterisation (admittedly the teen/twenties argot is already a little dated - but then... Read more
Published 13 months ago by John Mccartney

1.0 out of 5 stars dull
Overwritten. A shorter, wittier, crisper novel was waiting to break out of here, but it would have been a very different type of book. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Will Walker

1.0 out of 5 stars Promised but not achieved
We read this book in our book group, and the majority verdict was that it is a lazy, sometimes badly written book which fails to work out its themes with any conviction. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mrs. Hilary M. Fraser

1.0 out of 5 stars Spectacularly dull read.
A set of bound, lifeless, middle class ramblings. Failed to connect with any of the characters and was genuinely shocked by this after the reviews were so good. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Julie A. Parker

1.0 out of 5 stars boring
I really hated this book and found it completely dull and uninspiring. I find it hard to understand all its great reviews but I suppose if we were all the same, life would be... Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2007 by love reading

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject









i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.