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The Promise of Happiness
 
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The Promise of Happiness (Paperback)

by Justin Cartwright (Author)
3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
RRP: £10.99
Price: £9.89 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

The Promise of Happiness + The Song Before it is Sung + Leading the Cheers
Total RRP: £26.97
Price For All Three: £19.81

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Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; Airport and Export ed edition (16 Aug 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0747574375
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747574378
  • Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,564,295 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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

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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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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The Promise of Happiness
68% buy the item featured on this page:
The Promise of Happiness 3.2 out of 5 stars (49)
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Customer Reviews

49 Reviews
5 star:
 (15)
4 star:
 (10)
3 star:
 (6)
2 star:
 (5)
1 star:
 (13)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.2 out of 5 stars (49 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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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.

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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.
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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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

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 2 days ago 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 1 month ago 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 3 months 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 4 months 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 5 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 11 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 15 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 16 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 17 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 22 months ago by Mrs. Hilary M. Fraser

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