Editions

The Pursuit Of Happiness

The Pursuit Of Happiness

The critically acclaimed bestseller from the author of The Moment and A Special Relationship.

New York, 1945 - Sara Smythe, a young, beautiful and intelligent woman, ready to make her own way in the big city attends her brothers Thanksgiving Eve party. As the party gets into full swing, in walks Jack Malone, a US Army journalist back from a defeated Germany and a man unlike any Sara has ever met before - one who is destined to change Sara's future forever.

But finding love isn't the same as finding happiness - as Sara and Jack soon find out. In post-war America chance meetings aren't always as they seem, and people's choices can often have profound repercussions. Sara and Jack find they are subject to forces beyond their control and that their destinies are formed by more than just circumstance. In this world of intrigue and emotional conflict, Sara must fight to survive -against Jack, as much as for him.

In this mesmerising tale of longing and betrayal, The Pursuit of Happiness is a great tragic love story; a tale of divided loyalties, decisive moral choices, and the random workings of destiny.

Reviews

  • Whippman argues persuasively that happiness is something that emerges from the quality of relationships we have with others

    TLS

  • A compulsive read

    Kate Atkinson, author of Behind the Scenes at the Museum

  • This is the novel against which the rest of the year's output demands to be judged

    Express on Sunday

  • Kennedy cannot help but write grippingly, and he weaves threads of love and betrayal into a thrillingly masterful ending

    Observer

  • This superb story of divided loyalties and personal tragedy will heave you pinned to your seat

    Woman & Home

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About the Author

Douglas Kennedy

Douglas Kennedy's previous fourteen novels include the critically acclaimed bestsellers The Big Picture, The Pursuit of Happiness, A Special Relationship and The Moment. He is also the author of three highly-praised travel books. The Big Picture was filmed with Romain Duris and Catherine Deneuve; The Woman in the Fifth with Ethan Hawke and Kristin Scott Thomas. His work has been translated into twenty-two languages. In 2007 he was awarded the French decoration of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 2009 the inaugural Grand Prix de Figaro. Born in Manhattan in 1955, he has two children and currently divides his time between London, Paris, Berlin, Maine and New York.

Douglas Kennedy

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