BookBrowse Reviews Are You Happy? by Lori Ostlund

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A cohesive exploration of women's lives and queer relationships that investigates love, danger, families, loss, and navigating the past with wryness, unpredictability, and compassion.

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Is anyone happy? The more we learn about people's lives, the harder that question becomes to answer. In Lori Ostlund's collection Are You Happy? we follow nine stories that are sincere, thoughtful, part-amusing and part-upsetting glimpses into the experiences of primarily women and queer characters. In several locations in America, from Minnesota to New Mexico, and across varying careers that include a few overlapping in academia, we see the characters navigate peeping toms, complicated family dynamics, guilt from the past, troubling encounters with men, and loss — of a loved one, innocence, identity, class, and more. Keeping each story to around 20-30 pages with the exception of a 50-page novella at the end, Ostlund has crafted a well-paced, emotional, and overall memorable collection grounded in the realities of American life.

One of my favorite aspects of reading short stories is finding the connection to the title. The first story, "The Bus Driver," did not disappoint in this respect, and its unpredictability, distressing theme, and candidness set an accurate tone for the collection. After years of disconnect, two childhood best friends cross paths in their hometown in Minnesota, having a confrontation that illuminates a past of regret, lost innocence, trauma, and misunderstanding. When Clare returns home the spring of her senior year at college, her awkward and stiff reunion with Jane shows how their lives have changed and diverged. But we soon learn that the rift between them is not only due to circumstance, but because Jane felt Clare betrayed her when she intervened in a situation Jane was involved in during high school. Through Clare, we see the struggle and guilt around the question of doing the right thing: "I was afraid all the time, of not doing the right thing, of not even recognizing what the right thing was." And the ending, which craftily connects to the story's title, focuses on what actions are within the bounds of justice. Which situations are black and white, and which are grey?

Several stories center around family, highlighting complicated dynamics and dysfunction, including "The Gap Year," "Aaron Englund and the Great Great," "Just Another Family," and "Are You Happy?" Some are stronger than others in evoking emotion. "The Gap Year," unique in its exploration of tragedy and loss, showcases how valuable and essential a loving and understanding partnership is, as it can carry you through unimaginable heartbreak. "Clear as Cake" and "The Stalker" give insight into the sometimes harsh realities of writing workshops (see Beyond the Book). "The Peeping Toms" and "The Stalker" are unsettling in their stark portrayal of the danger men pose to women, the lack of credibility given to women when they feel their safety is in jeopardy, and the toll this takes. The main character in "The Stalker" remarks, "[A]ll I could see was what anyone looking in would see: a woman gazing into her backyard, unable to see what was out there, what was waiting or not, or was all just maybe in her head."

In the title story, we meet Phil as he is visiting his dying mother, in hospice at his brother's home. Twenty-four years prior, Phil survived a plane crash with his mother and aunt, which, for multiple reasons, changed the direction of his life. He has since tried to protect the new life he has created with his partner by keeping it separate from his family:

"When he met Kelvin, he let the answering machine announce his relationship — 'You have reached the home of Phil and Kelvin' — and his family never asked for details. When Kelvin wanted to accompany him on his infrequent visits back home, he declined, saying, 'I'm saving you from them,' but the truth was that he was saving himself."

After years of Phil feeling like a stranger with his own family, and them never confronting his sexuality and his decision not to join the family business, he and his mother address what went unspoken, seeming to reach a moment of softness when she makes an impossible and complicated request.

The strongest story is also the longest. "Just Another Family: A Novella" captures all the elements of the previous stories — humor, heart, loss, unpredictability, the tension of parents not fully accepting their child's identity, and the value of partnership. We follow Sybil as she returns to her childhood home to help her mother after her father's passing. Immediately upon arrival, she is reminded of how her mother views her life differently from her sister's:

"'You know she has a family,' my mother said, by way of excusing her absence. Rachel and I had been together for eight years. We had a house, jobs, two cats, and a dog, so I thought of myself as having a family, also. 'You know what I mean, Sybil,' my mother replied. I did know. She meant that I didn't have children, but mainly she meant that two women together was not a family."

Old memories resurface, and discussion of the past reveals how alarming Sybil's partner and her sister's husband find their family. This raises questions about how far from normal the family is. But we also see that sometimes the best way to navigate your abnormal family is to ignore and make peace with things as a coping mechanism, even if this confuses outsiders.

The nine stories of Are You Happy? explore the search for justice, the ways our childhood looms over us as adults, the value of partnerships, and the heartache, messiness, and isolation resulting from one's family not accepting their sexuality or a relationship. Ostlund also successfully illuminates the dangers, threats, and unease faced by women and by queer people, often from men, and the precautions they may take to protect themselves from harm. She creates a whole world of characters through emotive, honest, and compelling stories that will make you ponder how "Are you happy?" is a loaded question.

This review first ran in the May 21, 2025 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.