Good things happening to nice people
December 8, 2020 7:11 PM Subscribe
BookFilter: Serious, literary fiction primarily consisting of happy things, likable characters, people doing their best and things working out for them. I have the perfect example in mind but I don't want to spoil that book for you -- suffice it to say, I know it can be done. Not really looking for YA or genre fiction (unless it's spectacular). Thanks for any suggestions!
Emma (Austen) seems like the quintessential example.
posted by amtho at 7:33 PM on December 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by amtho at 7:33 PM on December 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
Does it have to seem like that will be the case from the beginning? I have a really lovely suggestion, which I can memail you, but knowing it works out in such a nice way might be a bit spoilerish.
posted by diamondsky at 7:37 PM on December 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by diamondsky at 7:37 PM on December 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
Jane Smiley's new book Perestroika in Paris is just charming. The main characters are a racehorse who gets loose from a stable in Paris, a dog, a raven, and a little boy, so I'm not sure if it fits your version of "serious literary", but it's a quick read and very very likable.
posted by Daily Alice at 7:38 PM on December 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Daily Alice at 7:38 PM on December 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure how purely happy you want the story to be, but Marilynne Robinson's Gilead and Lila (about the same people) left me with good feelings and seem like they might work for you. (The one that came in between them, Home, is a lot less happy.)
Others that come to mind:
Delta Wedding - Eudora Welty
The Everlasting Story of Nory - Nicholson Baker
Winter's Tale - Mark Helprin
anything by Laurie Colwin
posted by Redstart at 8:09 PM on December 8, 2020
Others that come to mind:
Delta Wedding - Eudora Welty
The Everlasting Story of Nory - Nicholson Baker
Winter's Tale - Mark Helprin
anything by Laurie Colwin
posted by Redstart at 8:09 PM on December 8, 2020
Response by poster: Thanks so much for your suggestions so far! I hope they keep on coming.
If it is spoilerish to know a story is happy overall and you don't want to post it here for that reason, by all means, please memail it to me. I don't mind being a little spoiled in service of getting a good story that will cheer me up.
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 8:23 PM on December 8, 2020
If it is spoilerish to know a story is happy overall and you don't want to post it here for that reason, by all means, please memail it to me. I don't mind being a little spoiled in service of getting a good story that will cheer me up.
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 8:23 PM on December 8, 2020
Wodehouse is my go-to example for this niche.
posted by kickingtheground at 8:29 PM on December 8, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by kickingtheground at 8:29 PM on December 8, 2020 [6 favorites]
Ooh, I was going to recommend Jane Smiley too, specifically Horse Heaven. It features many characters and lots of different kinds of happy endings. I rarely reread books, but I've read this one three times.
posted by alicat at 9:12 PM on December 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by alicat at 9:12 PM on December 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (MeFi’s own!) hits this spot for me.
posted by wsquared at 9:26 PM on December 8, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by wsquared at 9:26 PM on December 8, 2020 [6 favorites]
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles hits that for me. Despite the subject matter, it's all about people forming community no matter how restricted their circumstances. I really liked it.
posted by suelac at 10:48 PM on December 8, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by suelac at 10:48 PM on December 8, 2020 [8 favorites]
I just finished A Gentleman in Moscow and also loved it.
I came in to recommend, as I often do, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Café.
posted by SLC Mom at 11:43 PM on December 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
I came in to recommend, as I often do, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Café.
posted by SLC Mom at 11:43 PM on December 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
I don't know how serious your literary fiction has to be given that the seriousest literary fiction I know tends to be relatively unhappy or at least agnostic about happiness but:
Nancy Mitford's Don't Tell Alfred is the lightest of her novels. It's a comedy about the English ambassador's wife in Paris and absolutely nothing sad happens.
Margaret Drabble's happier novels still have some slightly less happy bits but in general I find Jerusalem the Golden, The Millstone and The Realms of Gold to be relatively unclouded. Each of these has some melancholy moments but in general the characters are happy, resilient people who make good lives for themselves. The main character of The Realms of Gold has a sequence of setbacks, let's say, but they all unravel very nicely in the end, and she's a woman with, essentially, a happy and good life.
Dodie Smith's The Town In Bloom again has its melancholy aspects, but I found it extremely charming, happy and sweet.
For both seriousness and uncloudedness, I recommend Maxine Hong Kingston's Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book. I feel like this book sank without a trace even though it's really good and I can't think why, maybe because it's relatively contemporary and not historical? - the structure is a bit weak, but it's a wonderful book for feeling a sense of joy and engagement in the world. It's also a terrific portrait of a time and place.
Angela Carter is a "serious" writer whose novels contain elements of magic realism. Wise Children, her last novel, has some specific moments of sadness but in general it's about continuing possibility and change and happy reverses. Some ghastly people get their comeuppance but they aren't as ghastly as real people and the comeuppance isn't bad enough to tip over into troubling. There is a Bad Thing that seems to happen at the beginning of the book, but the book itself pretty much tips you off that Bad Thing will be reversed.
Robertson Davies's novels in general aren't deeply sad. I loved them as a teenager. The one I return to is Tempest-Tost because it's the funniest and the least Serious About Life - it's about a provincial production of The Tempest.
posted by Frowner at 11:50 PM on December 8, 2020 [6 favorites]
Nancy Mitford's Don't Tell Alfred is the lightest of her novels. It's a comedy about the English ambassador's wife in Paris and absolutely nothing sad happens.
Margaret Drabble's happier novels still have some slightly less happy bits but in general I find Jerusalem the Golden, The Millstone and The Realms of Gold to be relatively unclouded. Each of these has some melancholy moments but in general the characters are happy, resilient people who make good lives for themselves. The main character of The Realms of Gold has a sequence of setbacks, let's say, but they all unravel very nicely in the end, and she's a woman with, essentially, a happy and good life.
Dodie Smith's The Town In Bloom again has its melancholy aspects, but I found it extremely charming, happy and sweet.
For both seriousness and uncloudedness, I recommend Maxine Hong Kingston's Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book. I feel like this book sank without a trace even though it's really good and I can't think why, maybe because it's relatively contemporary and not historical? - the structure is a bit weak, but it's a wonderful book for feeling a sense of joy and engagement in the world. It's also a terrific portrait of a time and place.
Angela Carter is a "serious" writer whose novels contain elements of magic realism. Wise Children, her last novel, has some specific moments of sadness but in general it's about continuing possibility and change and happy reverses. Some ghastly people get their comeuppance but they aren't as ghastly as real people and the comeuppance isn't bad enough to tip over into troubling. There is a Bad Thing that seems to happen at the beginning of the book, but the book itself pretty much tips you off that Bad Thing will be reversed.
Robertson Davies's novels in general aren't deeply sad. I loved them as a teenager. The one I return to is Tempest-Tost because it's the funniest and the least Serious About Life - it's about a provincial production of The Tempest.
posted by Frowner at 11:50 PM on December 8, 2020 [6 favorites]
I've discovered D.E. Stevenson this year. Lots of novels set in Britain in the 30s-40s, and everyone is pretty nice to each other. The Miss Buncle series is a good place to start.
posted by chaiminda at 3:24 AM on December 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by chaiminda at 3:24 AM on December 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
Silas Marner!
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 4:57 AM on December 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 4:57 AM on December 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
Anne Tyler! The Accidental Tourist and Breathing Lessons both jump to mind.
posted by veery at 5:14 AM on December 9, 2020
posted by veery at 5:14 AM on December 9, 2020
All things Rumer Godden. Also, from this century: The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George, a bookstore on a barge moored in the Seine until the owner decides to head south.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:39 AM on December 9, 2020
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:39 AM on December 9, 2020
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim (Gutenberg link). This is a light-hearted story from 1922 about four women going on holiday to an Italian castle.
posted by Azara at 7:01 AM on December 9, 2020
posted by Azara at 7:01 AM on December 9, 2020
I liked Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles. Also, The Dud Avocado is amazing (goofy tho).
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:13 AM on December 9, 2020
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:13 AM on December 9, 2020
2nd "The Enchanted April" a lovely, wry, funny, good hearted book.
posted by Zumbador at 8:41 AM on December 9, 2020
posted by Zumbador at 8:41 AM on December 9, 2020
I asked a similar question last year and got some good suggestions.
posted by minervous at 8:44 AM on December 9, 2020
posted by minervous at 8:44 AM on December 9, 2020
The Just City trilogy by Jo Walton is a society originally founded by Athena attempting Plato's Republic. Terrible things happen! But both the individuals and the culture as a whole strive for excellence.
posted by aniola at 9:21 AM on December 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by aniola at 9:21 AM on December 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
A lighter read but The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary hit this spot for me.
posted by heavenknows at 10:48 AM on December 9, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by heavenknows at 10:48 AM on December 9, 2020 [2 favorites]
Less by Andrew Sean Greer is very well-written and deals with meaningful themes (primarily growing older) but remains light-hearted and is a fun and rewarding read.
posted by zeusianfog at 12:55 PM on December 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by zeusianfog at 12:55 PM on December 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
Cold Comfort Farm is a classical novel that might scratch this itch. You might consider the Starkadders to be not very nice people, but they are mainly only grumpy and repressed and doing their best to do the right thing. It's a parody of the genre of farm life fiction where terrible things happen and the characters struggle with poverty and isolation. In this case everything falls into place perfectly for pretty much everyone.
posted by Jane the Brown at 8:34 PM on December 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Jane the Brown at 8:34 PM on December 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
Theophilus North by Thorton Wilder .
Quaint Theophilus North makes it his mission in life to fix small and big problems in his newly adopted small town.
posted by bluedora at 1:51 PM on December 12, 2020
Quaint Theophilus North makes it his mission in life to fix small and big problems in his newly adopted small town.
posted by bluedora at 1:51 PM on December 12, 2020
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posted by thivaia at 7:24 PM on December 8, 2020 [1 favorite]