4.5 Stars

Happy as Larry is a self-published book by Kaethe Cherney who uses her own childhood and experiences of losing her father, her siblings joining a cult to develop a novel that takes greater artistic liberties and reshapes her childhood as a work of fiction. However, the core elements of family, grief, friendship and life running off the rails were ever present and powerful throughout. I was honestly a little sceptical of this book because it was self-published, even though I was really interested in the focus on grief and family. However, I was absolutely blown away and devoured this book in about two sittings. It brought me out of my reading funk and touched me so unexpectedly that I cried a couple of times reading it.

The narrative focuses on Saskia, a young and rather precocious 14 year-old who loses her father suddenly and then watches her family struggle to pull together following his death. The family live in New York in an upscale apartment as her dad ran his own gallery. Following his death, her mum falls from Mr. Wrong to Mr. Wrong to try and keep herself together and is unable to focus on her children. This results in Saskia's siblings pulling away from her and ending up in a Cult, the Sullivanians, which was around in New York in the 1980s. Her family begin struggling financially for money after her father's death and have to move out of their nice apartment and move out towards Haarlem and the shady parts of New York City. Saskia changes schools and soon finds herself immersed in a world of drugs, drink and wild parties. There are so many elements that this novel touches on, but underlying all these huge changes and problems in Saskia's life the undercurrent to all of this is the grief and how she has dealt with her father's death.

This novel touched me on a deep level as I could relate to elements of Saskia's grief. I could relate to elements of her general attitude as she grew up and how she wanted to be liked, she wanted boys to kiss her, she wanted to have friends. She wanted to go to parties and be the cool, skinny and sexy girl. Saskia's desire to be liked edged into desperation and I think the book showed how key events in our lives can be turning points for us and our behaviour.

It was clear that Saskia and Kaethe Cherney loved New York and the 80's nostaglia and love for the city came through strongly. Cherney didn't shy away from dragging in the bad bits of New York, the shady characters, the homeless, or the positives. I did really enjoy this dip into the world of New York in the 80s through the eyes of a teenager.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a great coming-of-age piece that focused on the raw and emotional side of grief and how it can result in self-destructive actions, it can cause your life to spiral. It reminded me of the value of family, the promise and hope of the future and how it is never too late to change your life. Thank you to Kaethe Cherney for providing me a copy to review as I have been thoroughly touched and in awe of your book!