Product Description

It is Manhattan, Thanksgiving Eve, 1945. The war is over, and Eric Smythe's party was in full swing. All his clever Greenwich Village friends were there. So too, was his sister, Sara - an independent, canny young woman, starting to make her way in the big city. And then in walked a gatecrasher, Jack Malone - U.S Army journalist just back from a defeated Germany, and a man whose world-view did not tally with that of Eric and his friends. This chance meeting between Sara and Jack - and the choices they both made in the wake of it - would eventually have profound consequences, both for themselves and for those closest to them. And the effect of their actions would reverberate within their families for decades afterwards. Set amidst the dynamic optimism of postwar New York and the subsequent nightmare of the McCarthy witch-hunts, "The Pursuit of Happiness" is a great tragic love story; a tale of divided loyalties, decisive moral choices and the random workings of destiny.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10984 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 672 pages

Review
Manhattan 1945 and US Army journalist Jack Malone gatecrashes a Thanksgiving Eve party. Set amidst the dynamic post-war optimism and subsequent nightmare of the McCarthy witch-hunts, this acclaimed story of love and betrayal is a tale of divided loyalties, decisive moral choices and the random workings of destiny. Highly recommended.

Spectator
‘Curl up and enjoy’

Woman & Home
‘This superb story of divided loyalties and personal tragedy will leave you pinned to your seat’

Customer Reviews

A compelling read!
I bought this book on the strength of its cover (I liked the shade of blue!!!), and it was one of my better impulse buys!
It's a totally compelling story. The pages almost turn themselves, and it's almost impossible to put down once you start!
The plot twists and turns, and takes you to places where you imagine there is no way out, but Kennedy's rollercoaster of a book is unpredictable, exciting, and manages to lift the characters out of situations that seem impossible.
Towards the end of the book, you find yourself thinking 'how much more can this woman take?', thoughts echoed by Sara herself, but her life is portrayed with sensitivity, humour, and a wonderful kind of stoicism that reminds you of the period of history in which the book is set.
Buy the book now!

Wow! Evocative, Powerful, Romantic,Tragic
At first glance I didn't think that I was going to enjoy this book. I was wrong to judge a book by it's cover! I thought the writer's ability to write from a woman's perspective was truely incredible.

Douglas Kennedy's ability to show Sara's life and the sheer passion of her relationship with Jack Malone, the tragedy of losing her beloved brother, her mish mash marriage to George and his repulsive family and then emotional rollercoaster that was her life from there,made this book so hard to put down even without the cliched happy ever after ending. In fact, I'm still trying to catch up on the sleep I've missed reading til all hours of the morning.

Sara's thoughts, feelings and actions portray a useful lesson in forgiveness and I urge anyone who finds it hard to forgive to give this book a chance.It offers some useful philosophy on this subject!

The characters are all very believable and totally absorbing. The plotlines interweave each other and show what life was like for some in post war America.

I thought I'd read good books before...
Fantastic.. Attracted at first by the beautiful cover. Once into the main story, I couldnt put the book down. This is the first book that has made me late for work because I was up so late reading it! The twists came at the end of chapters, so that I just couldn't leave the next chapter unread. One of the twists had me blinking at the page in disbelief at the revelation before me. Have subsequently purchased a number of Douglas Kennedy books on the strength of this read.