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Happy & You Know It by Laura Hankin

Contemporary fiction

Happy & You Know It

by Laura Hankin

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Quick take

Your sneak peek into the lives of wealthy NYC moms, whose delicious scandals actually make them more relatable.

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    Fast read

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    Multiple viewpoints

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    Snarky

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    Mama drama

Synopsis

After her former band shot to superstardom without her, Claire reluctantly agrees to a gig as a playgroup musician for overprivileged infants on New York’s Park Avenue. Claire is surprised to discover that she is smitten with her new employers, a welcoming clique of wellness addicts with impossibly shiny hair, who whirl from juice cleanse to overpriced miracle vitamins to spin class with limitless energy.

There is perfect hostess Whitney who is on the brink of social-media stardom and just needs to find a way to keep her perfect life from falling apart. Caustically funny, recent stay-at-home mom Amara who is struggling to embrace her new identity. And old money, veteran mom Gwen who never misses an opportunity to dole out parenting advice. But as Claire grows closer to the cool women who pay her bills, she uncovers secrets and betrayals that no amount of activated charcoal can fix.

Free sample

Get an early look from the first pages of Happy & You Know It.

Happy & You Know It

Prologue

New Yorkers are good at turning a blind eye. They ignore the subway ranters, the men who walk with pythons twined around their shoulders, anyone who suggests meeting for dinner in Times Square.

But on one sweltering August afternoon, when the whole city was trapped in a bubble of heat, a woman came running down Madison Avenue in a full-length fur coat, demanding to be noticed. As she sprinted by, encased in a suffocating cocoon of mink, the sweaty customers at the sidewalk café on East Ninety-?­Fourth Street couldn’t help but stare.

Maybe it was, in part, because of her smell—the staleness of the inky black pelt she wore, plus something else, something sickly sweet and stomach turning. Vomit. Dried bits of it crusted the woman’s mouth. Little chunks clung to her hair. She didn’t look like someone who should have smelled that way. She looked rich.

Maybe it was the sleek stroller she pushed in front of her. It glided along the sidewalk, the baby equivalent of a Porsche, but without a baby inside.

Or maybe it was the pack of women chasing her.

Afterward, when the media was just starting to whip itself into a frenzy about the so?called Poison Playgroup of Park Avenue, one witness would tell reporters that he had known the women were dangerous all along. He had sensed it from the moment he saw them—even before they tipped back their heads and started to scream.

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Why I love it

As a mom of four kids, a New Yorker, and the host of a literary podcast, I love reading stories that poke fun at the craziness of modern motherhood, especially those that take place in Manhattan. After long days of caretaking—especially now in the coronavirus quarantine when I’m (supposed to be) overseeing homeschooling—I crave the moment when I can fall into bed and crack open a book that I know will make me laugh. That’s why Laura Hankin’s debut novel, Happy & You Know It, was the perfect read for me.

Laura writes with quick-witted humor and a keen observer’s eye about Claire, an aspiring musician who reluctantly becomes a children’s playgroup entertainer to make ends meet. When her path intersects with one stereotypical Upper East Side playgroup, she becomes a part of their lives in unexpected ways. Not only does she begin to uncover some of their closely held secrets, but she also finds, to her surprise, compassion and a sense of sisterhood.

At times happy, at times sad, Happy & You Know It will remind readers like me that no matter how different women may seem on the outside, when you dig a little deeper to that magical place of vulnerability and truth, we’re really all quite similar. (Just try to overlook the green juice.) Thanks to Laura for providing such an entertaining read during these stressful and uncertain times.

Member ratings (18,754)

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Repeat authors
View all
The Bodyguard
Margo’s Got Money Troubles
House of Glass
Like Mother, Like Daughter
The Lost Story
The Night Swim
The Pairing
Beach Read
Hera
The God of the Woods
One-Star Romance
The Paradise Problem
We Are the Brennans
Daisy Jones & The Six
This Tender Land
The Silent Patient
The Four Winds
You Are Not Alone
One by One
Yours Truly
Invisible Girl
The Rules of Magic
Survive the Night
Troubles in Paradise
Home Before Dark
The Lost Apothecary
Things You Save in a Fire
Real Americans
The Wishing Game
One Day in December
The Great Alone
People We Meet on Vacation
The Reckless Oath We Made
Lock Every Door
The Family Upstairs
Long Bright River
Infinite Country
Part of Your World
Recursion
The Half Moon
A Ladder to the Sky
The Sun Down Motel
The Mothers
The Vanishing Half
Memorial
The Shadows
Immortal Longings
Just for the Summer
The Connellys of County Down
The Knockout Queen
Happy & You Know It
Ask Again, Yes
Practical Magic
Lot
The Woman in Cabin 10
Dark Matter
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Final Girls
Hello Stranger
The Heart’s Invisible Furies
The Wife Between Us
The Broken Girls
In a Holidaze
The Kiss Quotient
The Last Time I Lied
Gods of Jade and Shadow
A Million Junes
The Bride Test
Darling Girls
The Turn of the Key
The Last Word
Dark Corners
Foul Lady Fortune
Evil Eye
The Soulmate