The Happy Couple: A Novel

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

“Daring . . . a brilliant contemporary novel.”—Colm Tóibín 

An intimate, sharply funny novel about a couple heading toward their wedding, and the three friends who may draw them apart

Meet Celine and Luke. For all intents and purposes, the happy couple.

Luke (a serial cheater) and Celine (more inter­ested in piano than domestic life) plan to marry in a year.

Archie (the best man) should be moving on from his love for Luke and up the corporate ladder, but he finds himself utterly stuck.

Phoebe (the bridesmaid and Celine’s sister) just wants to get to the bottom of Luke’s frequent unexplained disappearances.

And Vivian (a wedding guest) is the only one with any emotional distance and observes her friends like ants in a colony.

As the wedding approaches and their five lives intersect, these characters will each look for a path to the happily ever after—but does it lie at the end of an aisle?

In her wry, sprightly, and unmistakable voice, Naoise Dolan makes the marriage plot entirely her own in a sparkling ensemble novel that is both ferociously clever and supremely enjoyable.

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Published Nov 7, 2023

261 pages

Average rating: 5.44

18 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

literarily_occupied
Aug 12, 2025
6/10 stars
⭐️⭐️
Grace Hillabrant
Sep 13, 2024
8/10 stars
sally rooney vibes

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