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    Happiness Sold Separately
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    Happiness Sold Separately
    Unavailable
    Happiness Sold Separately
    Audiobook (abridged)5 hours

    Happiness Sold Separately

    Written by Lolly Winston

    Narrated by Melinda Wade

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Elinor Mackey has always done the right things in the right order-college, law school, career, marriage-but now everything's going wrong. After two painful years of trying, Elinor has learned that she can't have children. All the doctors can tell her is that it's probably because of her age. As she turns forty, she withdraws into an interior world of heartbreak.

    Elinor's loving husband, Ted, a successful podiatrist, has always done the right thing, too. Then he meets the wrong woman at the wrong time, and does the wrong thing. Ted's lover, Gina-a beautiful and kindhearted nutritionist-always eats the right thing, but is unlucky in love and always falls for the wrong men. Soon Ted has to fight to make everything right again.

    Can Elinor and Ted's marriage be saved? The answer is alarmingly fresh and unexpected as New York Times bestselling author Lolly Winston introduces us to characters as memorable as those of Anne Tyler and Nick Hornby, but who are indelibly all her own.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateAug 8, 2006
    ISBN9781594835261
    Unavailable
    Happiness Sold Separately
    Author

    Lolly Winston

    Born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut, Lolly Winston holds an MFA in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College, where she wrote a collection of short stories as her thesis. She is the author of New York Times bestselling novels Good Grief and Happiness Sold Separately, the latter of which is being developed as a film. Her short stories have appeared in The Sun, The Southeast Review, The Third Berkshire Anthology, Girls’ Night Out, and others. She’s contributed essays to the anthologies Kiss Tomorrow Hello and Bad Girls.

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    Reviews for Happiness Sold Separately

    3.5/5

    255 ratings24 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      The characters are solid but I thought the plot was unadventurous and predictable. Midlife crises make boring books when nobody goes entirely mad.
    • 2/5
      I absolutely loved "Good Grief" and was so excited to read another book by Lolly Winston. Unfortunately, this was just ... blah.
    • 4/5
      Loved this book! Found all of the characters to be very credible and very complex. Loved the wry humor and the way it didn't have the 'happiily ever after' ending. Great selection for a book club.
    • 3/5
      No great shakes. Elinor comes to terms with what she has...heartbreaking in a few spots, but overall, just okay. Read it, enjoyed it, next....
    • 4/5
      Excellent in its portrayal of the complexities of marriage and relationships surrounding it. Humor in great unexpected places. Frustrated with how fluffy and loose the ending was, but it was a good read up until that point.
    • 3/5
      Good characters..flawed..realistic...excellent handling of the pain of infertility...good twists...except the end was so ridiculous...bad lifetime movie ridiculous...I felt a bit cheated.
    • 4/5
      This is the first book I have read by Lolly Winston, and I was not disappointed. She is a wonderful weaver of words, and the emotions her characters exude are felt by the reader at the exact moment she intends. She doesn't wrap up each scenario neatly with a ribbon and bow; instead, she leaves us questioning the characters' motives, intentions, desires and regrets. She leaves us with questions to which we must find the answers ourselves. The story is raw and real which is exactly how I prefer the novels I read to be.
    • 4/5
      Happiness Sold Separately by Lolly Winston is the story of Elinor and Ted, a married couple undergoing problems with infertility. Elinor discovers Ted is having an affair with his personal trainer, Gina, and is unsure of whether their marriage is worth saving. Their lives become even more complicated when Ted, unable to stay away from Gina, develops a friendship with her 8 year old son. Elinor and Ted separate and get back together numerous times over the course of the book. None of the characters are particularly likable, but they were all real and believable. They all have their flaws and I found myself torn over whether Ted and Elinor should stay together or separate. I was able to identify with the feelings of infertility and sadness of miscarriages and I thought those details were true and well written. I felt the end of the book kind of fizzled out and I wasn't really happy with the lack of closure, but overall it was a good book. 3 and a half stars.
    • 4/5
      Loved the characters. Married couple trying to conceive a baby, and fall out of love with all the infertility complications. He has an affair. She finds out. They seperate, get back together, and she miscarrys for the last time. Then she comes to the final realization that they may love each other, but they arn't right for ea other. good story10/1/07
    • 4/5
      Lolly Winston has a wonderfully descriptive writing style. There is a great deal of detail given to her characters' thoughts and inner voices, which fleshes them out well. The readers notes in my edition states that she went through struggles with infertility herself, and I think she understands the subject as only one who has been through it can. The constant anticipation and disappointment can overwhelm the closest of couples, as it does in this case. I think she elicits sympathy for all her characters, which is very hard to do. There is a very cruel twist in the story which really caught me by surprise, but is true to life in that not all happy events turn out well. I felt very sad for Elinor and Ted. They really seemed to have something special, but couldn't handle the curves that life threw their way. Recommended.
    • 3/5
      lolly does a great job of showing the grays of life. the stories are a little predictable, but maybe that's just because they mirror life so well. you can identify with many of the characters, yet still want to slap them all at various times.
    • 5/5
      After having read and enjoyed this author's first novel, "Good Grief", I had high expectations for this, her second offering. My hopes were not in vain...this was an excellent book about hope, love and loss; written with a healthy dose of humor.The main character is Elinor, who is married to a podiatrist named Ted. They've been trying for months to get pregnant, with no success. Elinor becomes distant after awhile, retreating to her laundry room, where she finds an odd sort of solace. Ted joins a health club and begins an affair with his personal trainer, Gina. Gina has a son, Toby, who meets and instantly adores Ted. When Elinor discovers the affair, Ted immediately feels remorse and realizes that he still loves his wife. Throughout the story, Ted bounces back and forth between wanting the comfortable life with his wife, and the passionate love of Gina. The young boy, Toby, is desperate for the love and attention of an adult male...and begins trying to manipulate his mom and Ted into becoming the "family" he's always wanted.Before long, Gina recognizes that a future with Ted is not in the cards, since he has gone back to his wife, so she tries to settle for some of the other suitors from her past...dating them in order to try to forget the deep love she feels for Ted.Next thing she knows, Elinor discovers that she has finally conceived, on the first night of her reconciliation with Ted. From there...a whirlwind of emotion transpires. Ted and Elinor begin planning for the new arrival, re-igniting their feelings for each other in light of this wonderful event. But somehow, once again, Gina and Toby's lives intrude on their tentative relationship, threatening to destroy their marriage.The rest of the story plays out with surprising twists and turns, and the lives of all the characters go through many more ups and downs before the final chapter. I found this book to be an outstanding page-turner, written with honesty, heartwrenching emotion, as well as slightly sarcastic wit. I can't wait for another novel from this wonderful author!
    • 3/5
      I really liked Good Grief, so gave this one a shot. What happens when you and your husband can't conceive and then, to cap it all, you find out he's cheating on you with a buff, cheerful, single-mother, fitness-instructor? Elinor Mackey tackles her situation with humor, a bit of weirdness (like becoming really attached to an ancient tree in her front yard and naming him Warren), and an affair of her own... with the tree surgeon. Starts out good... This did not live up to Good Grief, although I do like Winston's style of humor and wackiness. Some language.
    • 3/5
      This was a book I really could have gotten interested in as it is a writing interest of mine (complex, flawed characters, infidelity, marriage, children), but the 2nd half of the book was too contrived as the characters spun into one dramatic situation after another with little time for the reader to take a breath. Again, had to slog through to the end.
    • 5/5
      Poor Elinor. She can't have a baby and her husband is having an affair with a very thin personal trainer. The book tells the story of Ted and Elinor, a couple who are having their share of problems. Winston writes another smash novel that was even better than her previous one. I really enjoyed this book.
    • 4/5
      I liked this book, but I didn't love it. I read it in one sitting, so it definitely kept my attention... but I loved Lolly Winston's first book, Good Grief much more. She writes well, but this story was just going in too many directions.
    • 2/5
      Meh, this story felt contrived, like it tried too hard. I frequently found myself angry at the characters for the unrealistic way they were portrayed and was not a fan of the narrator. The main character is 40, yet the she sounds like she's easily mid-60s which made the story that much more unbelievable. Oh and that kid, irritating, not heartwarming. This story grated my nerves from start to finish. I gave it 2 stars because of the portrayal of the strife people really go through during fertility treatment. At least that was believable.
    • 4/5
      Good book about a marriage break down over trying to have a baby and affairs.
    • 3/5
      I liked the book. but felt the ending left too many unanswered questions. And the author spent to much time on things that where kinda irrelevant.
    • 2/5
      The characters weren't believable. I think the author wanted you to like them all and feel empathy for the situation. The kid was annoying, and the adults weren't genuine. Meh.
    • 3/5
      Overall, I think this novel will ultimately be pretty forgettable for me. I just finished it two days ago & already am having trouble remembering the storyline. I thought Winston's previous novel, "Good Grief" was pretty enjoyable, but this one just didn't do much for me. A little too much dysfunction, in my opinion. The characters were way too wishy-washy for my tastes. I think the abridgement of this audio might have lowered my rating a little bit, but overall, still just a mediocre read.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      This book was slow. I didn't enjoy the cheating aspect of the book. I felt frustrated with the characters.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I rather liked the cover image – hung out to dry. A troubled marriage, first infertility, then infidelity. The story was a sensitive look into a marriage unraveling, though amicably enough, with the circumstances and choices played out.
    • 5/5
      Elinor and Ted can't have children. As so often happens, Elinor withdraws and Ted falls into an affair with Gina. Can their marriage be saved? The answer is never certain as this novel takes you on a roller coaster ride of "will they, won't they''