Happy Eva After (Chris Harrison, Arena)

Sebastian Pink, perennial underachiever and ESL teacher at The Future Perfect, bites off more than he can chew with a new arrival at the school. Struggling to conceive with work-obsessed wife Sarah, Sebastian retreats to his crosswords, his hound Claude and quality time at the pub with co-worker Walter and plenty of their amber friend. Enter Eva, the enigmatic Czech student, an au pair with mysterious bruises on her neck and a gambling habit to boot. Setting out to rescue Eva from her apparently desperate situation, Sebastian’s overactive imagination leads him to a night at the casino and an allotment burial, which forces him to make some pretty serious life-altering decisions. A trip to Prague reveals that sometimes, as in the English language, it is best not to read into situations that you don’t quite understand. Though there are plenty of opportunities, Happy Eva After plays it safe, nothing too risqué or unexpected. However, with enough cheeky wordplay and laugh-out-loud gags, Chris Harrison ensures that this is a great read for fans of contemporary fiction, English grammar and malapropisms.

Louise Fay is the special orders manager at Dymocks Adelaide and Random House Young Bookseller of the Year 2013

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews