Praise for A Way to Be Happy

When collected the stories in A Way to Be Happy offer a multifaceted even prismatic investigation into the influence of gender on perception particularly in moments of fear and loneliness

Emily M Keeler Globe and Mail

Adderson is a deft masterful storyteller whose literary fiction surely deserves more attention

Kirkus Reviews starred

One of Canadas finest shortstory writers considers what it means to find happiness The characters veer from thieving addicts to a Russian hitman and offer a multifaceted investigation into the influence of gender on perception particularly in moments of fear and loneliness

Globe and MailThe Globe 100

Though her writing is incisive emotionally astute slyly funny and awardwinning it still feels like Adderson hasnt quite gotten her due as one of this countrys best shortstory writers

Emily Donaldson Globe and Mail

Many characters wave to others only to have their heartfelt waves go coldly unacknowledged Combined with tight poignant descriptions such moments convey the inner turmoil emotional loneliness and absorbing humanity that animate A Way to Be Happy as a whole

Kyle Wyatt Literary Review of Canada

When seeking happiness there is always a cost The journey is never simplistic and when it comes to complexity Adderson is a master

Winnipeg Free Press

Its difficult to make happiness interesting Caroline Adderson however succeeds with stylish skill She creates sympathetic characters struggling with inner complexitieswhat it feels like to be a disappointment or to not be believed or to lead a passionless life always offering though an encounter providing a respite from loneliness or isolation

Kassie Rose The Longest Chapter

For each story Adderson expertly develops a detailed setting and the author carefully constructs vivid characters from every walk of life Each one of them making their way to some undetermined fate

Bill Paul The BC Review

Caroline Addersons stories are delicious they zip and bubble and a number are touched with tenderness

Townsend Walker New York Journal of Books

As the author of many books of fiction and nonfiction the breadth of Addersons writing experience is evident in her craft This clever and meticulously crafted collection from a writer who has mastered her art is a pleasure to read

Lori Hahnel FreeFall Magazine

A Way to Be Happy is immensely refreshing as it not only explores the uniqueness but also showcases the unpredictability of the everyday in a manner only a few writers manage to do

Saurabh Sharma The New Indian Express

Addersons prose is straightforward but doesnt flatline every word choice feels intentional When she goes into detail it is perfectly placed to highlight her characters idiosyncrasies making the reader empathize with their struggles

Isobel Bray The Tribune

This wellseasoned author has managed to steer clear of the hazards of kitsch or gratuitousness to produce a nearperfect collection about a bunch of very imperfect yet entirely plausible characters and scenarios

Scout Magazine

The characters in these stories from veteran of the form Caroline Adderson range from thieving addicts to a Russian hit man to a middleaged man facing a routine colonoscopy Through these varied characters and their disparate conflicts Adderson explores happinesshow we find it and what it means when we do

Quill amp Quire

A superb and unique collection Intricate compassionate complex its every sentence carefully built tested and polished each story draws the reader into the life of a character hurtling or meandering towards the consequences of their own choices and to the storys necessary conclusion They will by turn flood you with unexpected sympathy lighten your mood or leave you with a puzzle you cant quite solve No one else writes short fiction the way Caroline Adderson does and there are only eight stories in the book The way to be happiest is to savour each one

Kathy Page Atwood Gibson Writers Trust Fiction Prizewinning author of Dear Evelyn

Caroline Addersons voice is as vivid as ever in this exciting new collection and her characters are unfailingly mesmerizingdistinctive unpredictable somehow like everyone yet no one youve ever met before

Lynn Coady author of Watching You Without Me

Caroline Adderson builds terrific suspense from her characters lonely offcentre lives Each story in A Way to Be Happy is its own mysterious world shaped by her outstanding powers of imagination and sympathy

Elizabeth Hay author of Snow Road Station

Caroline Adderson is one of Canadas best short story writers A brilliant stylist her inventive sentences are the trademark of a literary pro

Susan Swan author of the upcoming memoir Big Girls Dont Cry

Praise for Caroline Adderson

All of Addersons characters are rounded and all have utility not simply as plot devices but as part of a striving suffering whole

New York Times Book Review

Caroline Adderson treats the domestic drama with elegance and wit and what she has to say about her characters and their circumstances is often profound

Meg Wolitzer author of The Female Persuasion

Adderson excels at portraying life in all its glorious devastating unpredictable messiness

Toronto Star

Adderson achieves a remarkable effect with her prose Its clarity is so overwhelming that it becomes intoxicating

Globe and Mail

A prose style as elegant and controlled as a swallow dive No one could ever accuse Adderson of timidity when it comes to subject

The Independent

Arresting Adderson writes with a rare understanding of human frailty

The Times London