Agnès Martin-Lugand

"Счастливые люди читают книжки и пьют кофе" - роман со счастливой судьбой. Успех сопутствовал ему с первой минуты. Тридцатилетняя француженка Аньес Мартен-Люган опубликовала его в интернете, на сайте Amazon.fr. Через несколько дней он оказался лидером продаж и очень скоро show more вызвал интерес крупного парижского издательства "Мишель Лафон". С момента выхода книги в июле 2013 года читательский интерес к ней неуклонно растет, давно разошелся полумиллионный тираж, а права на перевод купили 18 стран.Потеряв в автомобильной катастрофе мужа и маленькую дочку, Диана полностью утратила интерес к существованию. Перестала работать, выходить из дому, отвечать на телефонные звонки. Чтобы остаться наедине со своим горем, она уезжает из Парижа в глухую ирландскую деревушку, не подозревая, что именно там ей предстоит заново учиться жить и любить. show less

I wasn't sure what to expect, but liked the idea of happiness, books, and coffee all in the title. Though I was saddened at the first part of the book (it's pretty much my biggest nightmare to outlive my family) but the growth and healing of the central character Diane were affirming. I liked her relationship with her friend/business partner Felix, and the adjustments and relationships she builds when she moved to a small town in Ireland to restart her life again. (Oddly enough, I'm also show more reading another book set in Ireland now, but of a very different nature.) I understand the author has a second book featuring some of the characters from this book. I'll keep an eye out for it. show less

This book had some interesting characters and genuinely funny moments, but it also had some clichés and some over-the-top scenes that were difficult to take seriously. Parts of it felt disjointed, but I think that might be either the translation or the style; I think this book, if published in America, would have had more line breaks for clarity. It was definitely a cute story, and very sweet. I may have to read the sequel to find out what happens next.

PS, I totally only read it for the show more title—what a great name for a book! show less

Happy People Read and Drink Coffee, a short novel by Agnès Martin-Lugand translated from French, tells the story of Diane who finds life impossible after the death of her husband and daughter. Even her literary café fails to bring her joy. She escapes to Ireland where she must finally deal with her loss and decide how to move on. The journey includes a challenging neighbor struggling with his own tragedy and loss.

The book is the first in a series, but I'm not sure I need to read the second show more book. This one was fine but nothing earth shattering. I wondered if the translation left something to be desired as it seemed like people, especially Diane, were "screaming" a lot.

This is a case of buying a book for the title: I read and drink books and I think that makes me happy. But, there was little discussion of book reading or even coffee drinking. Instead, I think the title should have included smoking cigarettes as lots of them were consumed by Diane and her neighbor. show less