The Happiness Project: An emotional, heartwarming page turner

Three friends, all mums, make new year's resolutions: Alison the hyper-organised perfect wife and mother wants to get fit; Kate the pregnant mother of two is feeling a bit overwhelmed and just wants to be a bit more zen; and Frankie, the single mother, just wants to be able to hold down a job and 'adult'. These three unlikely friends have to combat their own high expectations (Alison), boyfriend's ex-wives (Frankie) and newly pregnant friends who judge their parenting skills (Kate). I liked this, three unlikely friends each with their own problems, each with their own resolution as they meet their resolutions in unusual ways. It's a reminder that what we look like on the outside isn't always how we feel on the inside, the carefree fun single mum who breezes through parenting may feel like a complete failure on the inside when compared to the mum who prepares homemade packed lunches, labels her child's clothes properly and is a member of the PTA. Recommended for fans of Katie Fforde. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Having not read I Will Survive, which introduces the three main characters in this story the three women Alison, Kate and Frankie jump right into this story on New Year’s Eve, just after Alison lost her mother-in-law. With Kate, now newly pregnant and Frankie, newly unemployed, these three catch up with one another at the school gates, and in the in-between times when time, babysitters and life allows. And these three are rather solidly defined in their personalities: Alison is organized within an inch of her (and everyone’s) life with a plan for everything and a place for every plan. Frankie is the single mum who has taken the ‘failure’ label to the next level in terms of her confidence – but is bold, self-determined and unwilling to let anyone or anything take advantage of those she cares about. Lastly there is Kate – with her two children and one on the way she’s more the caretaker, the people pleaser and nurturing one who manages to keep her finger in every pie, even if she’s exhausted. The three have decided to make resolutions for the new year – resolutions that will be both a challenge and a step away from their ‘comfort zone’. With Alison organizing Frankie’s CV, Frankie’s found a new job that has potential for upward mobility, with solid ideas, if an allergy to organizing and ‘trying to adult” don’t get in her way. Kate’s reconnected with a former girlfriend of her husband’s best friend – and finding her “I know everything about Earth Mother living even though I’ve never had a child proclamations to be judgy – and fueling her own ‘bad mum’ guilt. And we have Alison who’s trying on different things to see if they ‘fit’ in an effort to stretch her own personal experiences. Strangest of all, these three are building a friendship that is truly based in little more than being the “outsiders’ in the PTA mums – and proximity seems to make all the difference. There are no huge ‘aha’ moments for any of them – and quite frankly - everyone is so busy hiding their worries and ‘bad mum’ moments that the time to really share the deeply personal stuff between them is missing, and that left this story feeling more like a year in the life, with Frankie actually making the biggest tangible strides, while both Katie and Alison found little victories and moments. What James does really well is show the ups and downs of relationships, adulting, friendships and self-belief in ways that feel plausible, if a bit frantic at times. A solid book that would have done better by establishing the connections between the three, or making it very clear that this was the second featuring these characters. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

The happiness project.