Happy As We Are

by Bernadette Jiwa

Kindle Edition

Published March 3, 2026

About the author

Bernadette Jiwa is an Irish Australian writer and story skills teacher. For ten years, she successfully published award-winning non-fiction books before embracing the freedom of fiction.

Her Dublin novels, THE MAKING OF HER and EVERY SHADE OF LOVE, were published in 2022 and 2025.

Reviews

[Virginia Heslinga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Old Yet Current

Jiwa's writing pulls readers into lives like entering into a friend's house. Though everything looks familiar, hints of change swirl like a pinwheel in high wind. This short story sticks because the real needs and choices are around us today.

[Reisse Myy Fredericks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novella, ultimately, about a house: its secrets compressed between layers of paint. It interrogates the boundary between the public and private self, asking how far we’re willing to go to support the rights of others when it might cost us our own comfort… or discomfort.

[Tay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short novella felt like peering through a family’s window, catching glimpses of the complexities of their relationships and the secrets hidden beneath the surface. It explores family dynamics in an intimate way and raises the interesting question of what happens when the rights and choices you want to protect eventually have consequences that hit much closer to home?

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this lovely book.
This is my first Bernadette Jiwa but it certainly won’t be my last. A really, emotional read.