So Happy It Hurts by Anneliese Mackintosh

So Happy It Hurts

Anneliese Mackintosh

A quirkily written, modern-day story featuring Ottila, her love interests, friends and family. Like most of us, Ottila has her fair share of 'issues' that she's desperately trying to deal with - staying off alcohol, her father's death, her sister's mental health and the complication of her love life. I really enjoyed this novel - it was honest, fresh and didn't shy away from the big problems in life that many of us face on a daily basis.

Extract
PATIENT: I've been really missing my dad lately. I'm wondering if maybe I never did my grieving properly because I was always too drunk.
THERAPIST: You're certainly more likely to face up to things now you're getting sober. It will be much healthier for you in the long run.
PATIENT: That night - the stomach pump night - before I phoned the ambulance, I remember steadying myself at the sink between vomiting episodes, and catching sight of myself in the bathroom mirror. I realised that I was beginning to look like Dad when he was dying. I had the same black circles under my eyes. The same hollow expression. I found myself whispering my dad's last words. Be good for me.
THERAPIST: They were his last words?
PATIENT: I mean, I'm talking about his last words to me. I think his very last words were: Do, drittsekker! That's Norwegian for: Die, you bastards!
Parallels
  • Any Other Mouth by Anneliese Mackintosh
  • How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
  • Fleabag - the TV series

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