Happy People Don't Live Here

By Amber Sparks

Just past the edge of summer, Alice and Fern arrive at the Pine Lake Apartments--a former sanitorium occupied by an ensemble of peculiar neighbors and a smattering of ghosts. Among the living: a professional mermaid, a handyperson moonlighting as a medium, and an awkward professor of medieval studies. For the determinedly private Alice, Pine Lake seems the perfect place to hide herself and her daughter--until the day Fern finds a dead body in the dumpster. Intent on solving this mystery, and dodging warnings from her increasingly paranoid mother, Fern's investigation digs up long-buried secrets that implicate each of her neighbors . . . and conjures a new party from beyond the grave. A darkly funny gothic tale, Happy People Don't Live Here is an unforgettable novel from a "master of the fantastic" (Roxane Gay) that takes a sharp look at love, family, and the sometimes-dangerous myths we make for ourselves.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1324094397
• ISBN13: 9781324094395
• Release Date: October 2025
• Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.7" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Quirky and messy

Like others, I feel that this does not read like an adult book. The main point of view is that of Fern, a ten year old who sees the ghosts in their new place at Pine Lake Apartments and has a mystery to solve with a body in the dumpster that disappears. It is a meandering tale with quirky characters living in the different apartments, including a professional mermaid, a glass girl (brittle bones), and a handyman medium, just to name a few. Fern and her mother fit in well what with Alice being an miniaturist and they have the added mystery of being on the run from someone. I am not quite sure what the overall plot was supposed to be, unless it is a coming of age, or turning over a new leaf for Fern and Alice and finding a home where they belong. Add in the ghosts, a stalker leaving threatening notes, helpful odd neighbors, and the mystery of the body and it is kind of fun, kind of confusing and I do not think the cover really matches well. It was okay and I hate to give low ratings, especially when it it is a debut so I will say it is three stars.