Happy Accidents: An Inspirational True Story and Celebrity Memoir of Finding Happiness

by Tiffany Murray

Coming of age in rural England in the eighties is far from straightforward for Kate Happy, in a hilarious, highly-praised debut novel of family, secrets and dead ancestors in the attic. Gran has been homesick for Coney Island for thirty-eight years, hating her husband but determinedly donning her best pink Chanel suit and high heels to step out into the muck-splattered farmyard. Grandpa is bonkers, an ex-naval Captain who wanders round the house shouting sea-faring commands. Mum's gone AWOL since she ran over Kate's dad in her soft-top Triumph Spitfire. And are those really Dad's ashes in a Hellmann's mayonnaise jar in the attic? Crackling with the darkest of dark humour, brimming with crazy ancestors and closely guarded secrets, HAPPY ACCIDENTS is a wonderful first novel that confirms Tiffany Murray as a rising star of British fiction.

Genres: Fiction, Humor

352 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

About the author

Tiffany Murray was born in South West Sussex and grew up in Wales. Her first novel Happy Accidents and her second, Diamond Star Halo were both short-listed for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Award. Tiffany's writing has appeared in The Times, The Telegraph, The Independent and The Guardian. She is Senior Lecturer at The University of Glamorgan.

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not much of a plot, as the title suggests, more a series of accidents/ incidents in the life of Kate.
I loved her American grandmother and Kate herself, didn’t like her mother Marlene, her great aunt Reggie, nor Brian the farmhand.

[Nicola Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really couldn't make up my mind about this book. I really enjoyed parts of it, and was thoroughly irritated by others. The main character didn't seem to think like an 11 year old, but I enjoyed the setting and some of the characters.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fun and smart. Tiffany Murray has created a cast of dark and eccentric characters who are all somehow outrageously real.

[Arwen Telian]

361 pages of brilliance!

[Ross Whamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't enjoyed a book this much in ages.This is so well written it will stand the test of time.

A laugh out loud tale of Kate's dysfunctional extended family and the times.

[Tiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is everything that I thought it would be, quirky, fun with a splash of dark humour. I am now wishing that there is a sequel... I think this would also make a great movie. Heres to hoping that this authors first novel gets the attention it deserves. Absolutely brilliant!

[Joanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not finish this book.

[Emma J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was wavering between 3 and 4* and I don’t know how much I liked this book, but in the end I’m glad I read it and I’d probably read it again, hence 4*.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nearly-eleven-year-old Kate Happy lives in a creepy, smelly old farmhouse in the part of England--on the Welsh border--that's probably best known for constant rain. She's living with her Jewish-American grandma and bonkers grandad, because her Mum's off in some hippy commune and her Dad, having been run over by her Mum in her red sports car, is dead and kept in a mayonnaise jar. She avoids school whenever she can, barely gets to eat because her grandmother doesn't believe in getting fat, and is prone to peeing her pants in moments of stress.

Her Mum's return is just the first of many incidents that ramble through this debut novel. Happy Accidents is stuffed with quirky characters and loose ends, and given a refreshing tang by the author's distinctive voice. I liked it, even though it wouldn't normally be the kind of book I'd pick up (the chick-lit cover does it no favors). Kate's reactions to her world are very believable (the book is semi-autobiographical, where are the social services when you need them?) and watching her figure out her own rules in an environment where the adults just seem to make up the rules as they go along is quite thought-provoking.

This is a nice one to tuck in your pocket when you're heading off in the plane or on the beach. Not heavy reading, but intelligently written and entertaining.

[Victoria Evangelina Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the honor and pleasure of studying writing with the guidance of Tiffany Murray, and it was this very book that helped me to confidently choose her as a tutor. The story is so funny that it is sad; the writing is so descriptive, that it jumps in your heart before it comes to your mind; the events are so gruesomely unbelievable that you know, they are based on real life: at least, they grow from that pile of compost we call our past. The characters stayed with me for a while after reading. I loved the book so much, I underlined my favorite phrases. There were many! I highly recommend this book. Do not pay attention to the silly cover: it's anything, but chick lit (imho).

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book so much that as I came closer to the end I battled with myself over delaying finishing it to drag it out and enjoy it for longer or rushing on to completion - the paradox presented by a good book.

[Jbenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant novel, dark yet hilarious. Kate Happy's story about growing up with her Jewish grandmother on the Welsh border is busy, alive and delightful. It will make you laugh and cry.

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great characters (especially grandma Iris and grandpa Larry) but as a story, it lost its meandering way. I didn't have any sense of resolution at the end.

[Avril Caryer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. I have read two of her others and was a bit disappointed because I expected to like them more than I did. This one was better. She writes well about eccentric characters and these are certainly that.
I did think it went a bit woolly at the end but a good read.

[Ingrid Wassenaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was slowly sucked into Happy Accidents, it took me by surprise. At first I was waiting for the plot to take off, and then I gradually relaxed into it, and just let the voices talk to me, and the novel bodied itself forth. The mother, Marlene, seems so impossibly dysfunctional that for many pages you cannot believe her. But in the end, in the end Tiffany Murray manages to convince us that there is a love, of a kind, between her and her daughter, the protagonist, Kate. In the end, I didn't want to leave.