SO HAPPY TOGETHER

A middle-aged woman abandons her husband and children to embark on a cross-country trip in search of a more satisfying life in this debut novel.

Carolyn Tanner used to be something special. Back in college in the 1960s, she was an activist, a hippie, a bit of a druggy, and a budding playwright with big dreams. Somewhere along the way, she veered onto another path. Now that the ’80s have rolled around, Caro finds herself a disillusioned suburban wife and mother in an upscale Connecticut town with little else on her résumé. When she dreams one night about an old flame from her more colorful college days, she worries she’s had a premonition—that this man needs her help. Suddenly desperate to escape her cookie-cutter life, she begins to plan her liberation. After she drops her three kids at the bus stop for summer camp, she leaves a vague note for her husband and takes off in search of her college sweetheart, Peter MacKinley. As Caro crosses the country on this multiday journey, the story alternates between scenes from her adult life and those she remembers more fondly from her younger years. But the further she delves into her memories of Peter, the more she realizes that the relationship she had with him was complicated, too. As the tale progresses, Caro is forced to come to grips with what she really wants and what she may be leaving behind. Told primarily through flashbacks, Caro reveals much about both her married life and her bohemian college days. Shepherd’s novel contains entertaining details of the ’60s and ’80s, deftly capturing the atmosphere of both time periods. Told in the first person from Caro’s perspective, the book reads very similarly to a memoir, meandering through the formative events in her life. But the story suffers from the inclusion of too many scenes that do little to advance the narrative, instead creating an often sluggish tempo. Even so, the tale explores many weighty topics relating to life’s transitions with insight and grace. From sexual orientation to personal ambition, grief, friendship, and self-esteem, the author dives deep. For those interested in journeys of self-discovery and the circuitous paths of personal relationships, the payoff is ultimately worth it.

A vivid but slow-paced recounting of one woman’s self-reckoning, steeped in nostalgia.