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Like Happiness
Like Happiness: A Novel | Ursula Villarreal-Moura
4 posts | 4 read | 1 to read
A searing debut about the complexities of gender, power, and fame, told through the story of a young woman’s destructive relationship with a legendary writer. It’s 2015, and Tatum Vega feels that her life is finally falling into place. Living in sunny Chile with her partner, Vera, she spends her days surrounded by art at the museum where she works. More than anything else, she loves this new life for helping her forget the decade she spent in New York City orbiting the brilliant and famous author M. Domínguez. When a reporter calls from the US asking for an interview, the careful separation Tatum has constructed between her past and present begins to crumble. Domínguez has been accused of assault, and the reporter is looking for corroboration. As Tatum is forced to reexamine the all-consuming but undefinable relationship that dominated so much of her early adulthood, long-buried questions surface. What did happen between them? And why is she still struggling with the mark the relationship left on her life? Told in a dual narrative alternating between her present day and a letter from Tatum to Domínguez, recounting and reclaiming the totality of their relationship, Like Happiness explores the nuances of a complicated and imbalanced relationship, catalyzing a reckoning with gender, celebrity, memory, Latinx identity, and power dynamics.
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Read_By_Red
Like Happiness: A Novel | Ursula Villarreal-Moura
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Pickpick

This isn‘t the type of novel that I typically read but I found it to have relevant themes and a very powerful message, mainly about the power that men try to hold over women and the life-altering effects that control can have. The narrative is told through duel timelines: the present and a letter written to Dominguez from Tatum. These two timelines worked very well together, seamlessly weaving the past with the present.

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TorieStorieS
Like Happiness: A Novel | Ursula Villarreal-Moura
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Mehso-so

Slow-paced, this novel dissects the relationship between an author and his best fan. Over a decade, Tatum idolizes the first Latino writer she truly connected with. One fan letter leads to a convoluted and often bewildering friendship between them. It‘s easy to feel frustrated with the narrator while wanting more from her 2015 storyline than the past… the best part lies in Tatum‘s genuine love of books and reading… I wanted to like this one more!

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Jas16
Like Happiness: A Novel | Ursula Villarreal-Moura
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Pickpick

When Tatum is approached by a journalist hoping for an interview about her experiences with an author recently accused of sexual assault she re-examines their past and realizes that their friendship was far from healthy and far from equal. Deftly written, it was easy to become immersed in this story and end up finishing it an afternoon. The ending fizzled for me, after so much build up, but i still really enjoyed it. Out 3/26

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vegan.librarian
Like Happiness: A Novel | Ursula Villarreal-Moura
Pickpick

I enjoyed reading this. The writing is very good. The author's use of second person through much of the book is well done.

The protagonist's closure through explaining to Matteo how he hurt her is confusing. He's so self-centered and oblivious - why would he care how she feels, especially now? Also, she faults him for stringing her along for a decade, but he didn't really. And many of the character flaws he has, she does also.