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Happy Eva After
As a teacher at the Fawlty Towers of London language colleges, Sebastian Pink is accustomed to confusion caused by the complexities of the English language.
Married to Sarah, a career woman who has long been a total workaholic but is now desperate for a baby, Sebastian feels ambivalent about becoming a parent. Sarah has effectively been absent from his life for so long that they've grown apart and these days his social life has come to revolve around his work; walking his dog, Claude; and his obsessive daily completion of the cryptic crossword.
When an alluring Czech student called Eva becomes one of Sebastian's students - and inadvertently provides him with the last solution in his morning crossword - he finds himself drawn into a sordid suburban tangle based mainly on his own misinterpretations and feverish imagination.
Happy Eva After is a seriously funny comedy about a bloke, his wife, his dog, an alluring young woman with a mysterious past, and the nuances of the English language.
Married to Sarah, a career woman who has long been a total workaholic but is now desperate for a baby, Sebastian feels ambivalent about becoming a parent. Sarah has effectively been absent from his life for so long that they've grown apart and these days his social life has come to revolve around his work; walking his dog, Claude; and his obsessive daily completion of the cryptic crossword.
When an alluring Czech student called Eva becomes one of Sebastian's students - and inadvertently provides him with the last solution in his morning crossword - he finds himself drawn into a sordid suburban tangle based mainly on his own misinterpretations and feverish imagination.
Happy Eva After is a seriously funny comedy about a bloke, his wife, his dog, an alluring young woman with a mysterious past, and the nuances of the English language.
312 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2013
88 people want to read
About the author
Chris Harrison
121 books10 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 17, 2013
While I really enjoyed aspects of this book (it was easy to read and I liked Sebastian as well as the characters at the school), there were two things that let the book down for me. First, the book was full of very clever turns of phrase, which - when they worked - were fabulous. A lot of the time, though, I found the clever turns of phrase distracted me from the plot. Secondly, it really bugged me that not once in all of their conversations about babies did it seem to occur to Sebastian to be a stay home Dad. Surely that would have made more sense? Why did his wife have to scale back her job when there was no question about him being the stay home parent either? It seemed a tad hypocritical to me and not terribly enlightened given how strongly he seemed to feel about women having children "for someone else to raise". Those niggles aside, though, it was a good easy read.
January 2, 2021
I was pleasantly surprised by
Happy Eva After
, the debut novel (but second book) by Australian writer Chris Harrison. After reading the blurb on the publisher’s website the book sounded like an entertaining comedy-of-errors, but it proved to be much more. This is an intelligent and well-written novel that sustains a level of wit and dramatic irony without compromising the language, the pace or character development.
Happy Eva After is both a celebration of and a homage to the English language. Each chapter title refers to a grammatical tense, a punctuation mark etc., and Sebastian’s language school, aptly named The Future Perfect, is the primary setting of the novel. The comparison of The Future Perfect with Fawlty Towers is a bold one to make but it works. Whilst reading the exchanges of dialogue between Sebastian and his students, I couldn’t help but refer back to that amusing scene in Fawlty Towers where Basil is trying to instruct Manuel in English.
What I found in amongst Harrison’s wit was real warmth in his characters and his storytelling. The darker themes of a marriage under strain, a teacher trying to protect his student, a beautiful young woman being taken advantage of in a foreign country, and a lonely middle-aged Englishman looking for love, are crafted through moments of genuine emotional resonance. As the reader, I wanted these characters to succeed and for them to live ‘happily ever after’.
Harrison doesn’t sacrifice the language or reduce the characters to two-dimensions for the sake of ‘romance’ or ‘comedy’, for which I applaud him. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who works with or is passionate about the English language and who, like myself, is a fan of British humour and comedy.
Read my full review on my blog: http://bit.ly/GDINab
Happy Eva After is both a celebration of and a homage to the English language. Each chapter title refers to a grammatical tense, a punctuation mark etc., and Sebastian’s language school, aptly named The Future Perfect, is the primary setting of the novel. The comparison of The Future Perfect with Fawlty Towers is a bold one to make but it works. Whilst reading the exchanges of dialogue between Sebastian and his students, I couldn’t help but refer back to that amusing scene in Fawlty Towers where Basil is trying to instruct Manuel in English.
What I found in amongst Harrison’s wit was real warmth in his characters and his storytelling. The darker themes of a marriage under strain, a teacher trying to protect his student, a beautiful young woman being taken advantage of in a foreign country, and a lonely middle-aged Englishman looking for love, are crafted through moments of genuine emotional resonance. As the reader, I wanted these characters to succeed and for them to live ‘happily ever after’.
Harrison doesn’t sacrifice the language or reduce the characters to two-dimensions for the sake of ‘romance’ or ‘comedy’, for which I applaud him. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who works with or is passionate about the English language and who, like myself, is a fan of British humour and comedy.
Read my full review on my blog: http://bit.ly/GDINab
October 12, 2013
Sebastian Pink is a self-deprecating, unambitious, scruffy ESL teacher at The Future Perfect language school. Apart from teaching his life revolves around cryptic crosswords, his dog Claude and spending time at his favourite pub with his friend and colleague, Walter. His wife, Sarah, in contrast, is an ambitious real estate executive who, realising that at forty-one her biological clock is ticking, is desperate to have a baby.
When Eva, a beautiful young Czech au pair, arrives at the school wearing shabby clothes, sporting bruises on her neck, appearing downcast and reticent, Sebastian is both intrigued and concerned for her welfare. He becomes determined to rescue her from the apparently desperate situation that he imagines is the cause of her behaviour.
Happy Eva After follows Sebastian as he struggles with idea of potential fatherhood, teaches a diverse group of foreign students and tries to solve the mystery of Eva. The book contains an abundance of quirky characters, word play, laugh-out-loud gags, malapropisms, lessons in grammar and telling insights into modern life. Sebastian is a loveable anti-hero, the dialogue is witty and the ending satisfying if somewhat predictable. I thoroughly enjoyed Happy After Eve and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction, witty dialogue, engaging characters and the challenges of English language and grammar. It is a truly delightful book.
When Eva, a beautiful young Czech au pair, arrives at the school wearing shabby clothes, sporting bruises on her neck, appearing downcast and reticent, Sebastian is both intrigued and concerned for her welfare. He becomes determined to rescue her from the apparently desperate situation that he imagines is the cause of her behaviour.
Happy Eva After follows Sebastian as he struggles with idea of potential fatherhood, teaches a diverse group of foreign students and tries to solve the mystery of Eva. The book contains an abundance of quirky characters, word play, laugh-out-loud gags, malapropisms, lessons in grammar and telling insights into modern life. Sebastian is a loveable anti-hero, the dialogue is witty and the ending satisfying if somewhat predictable. I thoroughly enjoyed Happy After Eve and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction, witty dialogue, engaging characters and the challenges of English language and grammar. It is a truly delightful book.
December 28, 2013
I found this a very entertaining and enjoyable read. I am one of those people who like grammar to be correct and apostrophes to be in the right places, so this story appealed to me very much. The main character teaches English to adult students and much of the comedy is in the way they innocently abuse the language. I am still laughing at "God pickle you" (an understandable error when you think that pickle can be another word for preserve, in the correct context of course). An excellent story without a fake happy ending, in fact without a conclusive ending at all. Just like life!
June 29, 2018
Chris Harrison is Richard Curtis with heart and soul.
Happy Eva After may seem to be a light romantic comedy, but there a depth to this book that is most impressive. Not only does Harrison have a great grasp of character, he also gives them true life - an understanding of their place and purpose. It is his first novel, following on from his successful autobiographical debut, Head Over Heel, and Harrison has seamlessly deposited his masterly observational style into fiction. Fulfilling on so many levels, the use and play on language is wonderful and poetic.
A must read.
Happy Eva After may seem to be a light romantic comedy, but there a depth to this book that is most impressive. Not only does Harrison have a great grasp of character, he also gives them true life - an understanding of their place and purpose. It is his first novel, following on from his successful autobiographical debut, Head Over Heel, and Harrison has seamlessly deposited his masterly observational style into fiction. Fulfilling on so many levels, the use and play on language is wonderful and poetic.
A must read.
April 29, 2020
This book was an absolute delight from start to finish!!!
Good to have a comedy in the midst of this lockdown.
Good to have a comedy in the midst of this lockdown.
September 24, 2021
Just a bit bland & silly. While a moderately entertaining read, it seemed (to me) somewhat flat & predictable. 2.5 stars
November 23, 2013
Happy Eva After is a quirky British comedy about marriage, parenthood, ambition, communication and the lack thereof. Sebastian Pink is an unassuming ESL teacher at The Future Perfect language school in London. Largely content to walk the dog, challenge himself with cryptic crosswords, have the occasional pint with a friend and tend to his allotment, when his workaholic wife expresses a desire to have a baby. Sebastian is ambivalent and allows himself to become distracted by the enigmatic and beautiful, Eva, a young Czech woman, studying English while working as an au pair.
In part a comedy of errors, prompted by Sebastian's imagination, including prophetic crossword clues, and the nuance of language lost in translation, Happy Eva After is an entertaining novel which also touches on serious themes such as the exploitation of foreign labour and the 'outsourcing' of parenthood.
Sebastian is an ordinary married, middle class gent, approaching middle age when her first meets Eva. He is an earnest sort of man, a bit of a nerd, but thoroughly endearing. He loves his wife, despite their many differences, though he worries his lack of ambition and easy going nature suffers by comparison, and the idea of fatherhood has him both excited and apprehensive. Sebastian's concern for Eva is somewhere between paternal and carnal but genuine nevertheless, he misinterprets a scene he witnesses between Eva and her employer which has him worried Eva is being sexually exploited and he becomes determined to somehow rescue her.
The humour is very British (is that a thing? I think it's a thing), often dry and sardonic, occasionally slipping into something outrageously silly. Readers should enjoy the word play heralded by chapter headings relating to the rules of grammar and the use, and abuse, of the English language by Sebastian's students which had me sniggering far more than is probably politically correct.
An impressive debut from Chris Harrison, Happy Eva After is a witty and intelligent novel which I found engaging and entertaining.
September 7, 2016
Did you know that people who have English as a second language speak English somewhat quirkily? Chris Harrison does! Unfortunately he doesn't seem to really know how to make humorous points about this without coming across as somewhat racist (Japanese people flip ls and rs sometimes!) ... and straight up makes jokes about Koreans eating dogs. Yep.
Happy Eva After is the story of a neanderthal man who doesn't want to have a baby because his wife works too hard, and he thinks she wouldn't look after it. She's the breadwinner, and he never considers that perhaps he could be the primary carer. He reflects on this for a second and forgets about it. A tiny shot of conscience hits him but the book is over before it begins and the cast of characters acquit themselves poorly.
This is light fiction (which is fine), but without a point (which isn't). Not a regrettable read but not a worthy one.
Happy Eva After is the story of a neanderthal man who doesn't want to have a baby because his wife works too hard, and he thinks she wouldn't look after it. She's the breadwinner, and he never considers that perhaps he could be the primary carer. He reflects on this for a second and forgets about it. A tiny shot of conscience hits him but the book is over before it begins and the cast of characters acquit themselves poorly.
This is light fiction (which is fine), but without a point (which isn't). Not a regrettable read but not a worthy one.
January 18, 2014
Having just finished reading Happy Eva After by Chris Harrison, I can truthfully say that I couldn't put it down. I read it in two sittings and laughed all the way through. It is a delightful story about Sebastian Pink, a teacher in a language school in London, who is obsessed with grammar, crosswords and the English language in general. Descriptions of the howlers perpetrated by Sebastian's students were fall-over hilarious, as was the drama of his developing friendship with his Czech student Eva, not to mention the ongoing pressure being put on him by his wife, Sarah, who had an urgent desire to become pregnant immediately. A brilliantly clever book, I can recommend it highly.
March 30, 2015
Lots of laugh out loud moments in this delightful novel. The quick witted insights into the challenges of learning English with many grammatical twists and turns made for easy and entertaining reading.
I was rather mystified at the underlying criticism of Sarah's career ambitions. At least some consideration of a stay at home dad would surely have been worthy of at least a chapter!
Despite this obvious plot flaw I'll be recommending this. In a similar style to The Rosie Project.
I was rather mystified at the underlying criticism of Sarah's career ambitions. At least some consideration of a stay at home dad would surely have been worthy of at least a chapter!
Despite this obvious plot flaw I'll be recommending this. In a similar style to The Rosie Project.
July 20, 2014
Witty and hilarious!! This is essentially a feel good novel. There are parts I found unnecessary, mainly involving the Walter storyline. It is fun to read and made me aware of the language and grammar I was using. It flows easy and i recommend this book for anyone that needs a quick laugh.
November 25, 2015
Well written, funny and easy to read but agree with other reviewers that the main character Seb could have (at least) considered being a stay at home dad instead of automatically thinking it was his wife's job. The last few chapters portrayed him to be a total arse in that respect.
November 10, 2013
A good quick read. Lots of grammar and language jokes. Just about life and marriage and careers. And the things we accept a normal life. A few plot points were predictable but still very readable
June 17, 2014
Better than the average chick lit, with interesting plays on words and a man's story from a male author.
May 1, 2016
I did laugh but for a book where a lot of emphasis on correct grammar is placed, the editors used "who" when it should have been "whom". My pet hate
August 25, 2016
Lots of humourous clever play on words and entertaining double entendres. Light read
April 13, 2017
Pretty funny story about a guy who teaches English to foreigners in London. Some pretty humorous situations come from his lesson plans alone. The story focuses on his relationship and whether to have a family or not, and also the mysterious personal life of one of his students. It's hard to tell where the story is heading with this girl? Just teacherly concern? A crush? A quick read and would recommend.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews