“THE SALLY ROONEY-APPROVED BOOK OF THE SUMMER.”
—DAZED

A New York Times July Books Pick • A New Yorker Best Book of the Year (So Far) • Named 'A Best Debut Novelist' By The Observer • Named a Best Book of 2026 by The Independent

“I Want You to Be Happy is an irresistible novel that asks complex questions about contemporary life and refuses easy answers. I couldn’t stop reading.” —Sally Rooney

“An agonisingly bittersweet comedy.” ―The Observer

“A totally devastating—and all too relatable—portrait of modern romance.” ―Vogue

Chuck and Joey meet in a bar. He's in his mid-thirties; she's twelve years younger. He's long abandoned his ambition of becoming a novelist and now works as a copywriter at a big ad agency. 'Lead copywriter,' he corrects himself. Joey lives paycheck to paycheck on her barista wages and privately dreams of making it as a poet. They go back to Chuck's luxury flat—a world away from Joey's cramped house-share, the crumbs in her bed. Soon, Joey's imagining a future between them, and Chuck's moving on from a major change in his recent past. Amazing, how meeting a new person can make you feel so new.

Funny, excruciating, and true, I Want You to Be Happy is a sharp-eyed tale of two people searching for meaning and connection in modern times, missing the mark maybe, but trying.