From the bestselling author of Matchmaking for Beginners comes a novel about love, loss, and the beautiful mess of family.
Marnie MacGraw and Patrick Delaney have been in love for a few years now, enough to realize that they are imperfectly perfect together. Still, there are some things that maybe need a little attention. Marnie’s ebullient; he’s brooding. She thrives on change; he prefers stability. She sees marriage and parenthood in their future, but he can’t see beyond the shadow of an earlier tragedy.
Then an eight-year-old surprise from Patrick’s past shows up on their doorstep, cartwheeling into their lives and spinning things in all directions. While it’s not exactly the change she envisioned, it looks like instant family to Marnie. But Patrick, afraid of being hurt again, retreats further into himself. Suddenly, two very different pieces of a beautiful puzzle find it harder and harder to fit. How can Marnie trust in the magic of the universe when it seems to be doing its best to knock her off her feet?
But some love stories are worth waiting for. And what’s love without a little chaos anyway?
My Summarization
Enlightened by Maddie Dawson’s The Magic Of Found Objects, Iorderedher book A Happy Catastrophe from Amazon. True to her writing style, Maddie Dawson’s unconventional lovable figures emboldened me to root for them in their entirety.
A Happy Catastrophe is a story about the delicate relationship between an unlikely couple who must release the past to take a second chance in life. Maddie Dawson parses a novel that challenges the norms of conventional families. She parcels a look at her characters’ vulnerabilities as they struggle to find grace.
Photo courtesy of @STOCKBYJEWELS
Marnie and Patrick are opposites who met and fell in love after suffering immeasurable losses. Newlywed Marnie’s marriage derailed on her honeymoon. Correspondingly, Marnie inherited a brownstone in New York City from her ex-husband’s great aunt.
A Southern girl at heart, Marnie planned to sell the residence and return home to Florida. Patrick, the last remaining tenant had his U-Haul loaded when he could not foresee a life without Marnie.
The couple eased into a comfortable lifestyle together until the day Marnie confides she would like to become a mother. Patrick does not see himself as father material. When Marnie tries to persuade Patrick he retorts
What is this ludicrous idea that you have that I would be an amazing father? Marnie, honey, I am useless with children beyond useless.
As the dynamics of their relationship become fractured Marnie heeds her metaphysical intuition while Patrick quietly draws within. Doubting Patrick’s commitment, Marnie puts her future on hold. Patrick resorts to painting dark canvases in his studio. Yet Patrick can not free his mind from the haunting screams of his former girlfriend Annalise.
Shortly thereafter an 8-year-old ends up at their door. Marnie opens her home to the rambunctious girl and interprets the occasion as a sign of things to come. Once the door is unlocked, a surprising number of uninvited guests ascend upon the couple’s home.
Marnie never gives up on her dreams of motherhood and her passion pulls her through to the other side. What about Patrick? Will he embrace Marnie and accept her ideas of family as his own? Read A Happy Catastrophe to uncover how their love story ends.
