Emily Vance Brown

by Ursula Villarreal-Moura

4/5

I picked this up from a bookstore down the street called Gladys Books and Wine. It was a random choice–I’d never heard of the title or author before–and I’m so glad I stumbled onto it. 

Like Happiness tackles the same subject matter that’s been rising in popularity since the MeToo movement first started a few years ago, but it does so in what I find to be a particularly unique and compelling way. The story jumps back and forth between the narrator’s interactions with a journalist regarding her former ambiguous relationship with a famous author and her letter to the author in question. Villarreal-Moura delicately tackles the grey area of what’s appropriate between so-called “friends,” between a young woman and an older man, and between a celebrated writer and his fan. There’s little that Mateo does that explicitly crosses a clear line into sexual abuse, yet most of his behavior feels recognizably uncomfortable in the context of his relationship to Tatum, even if it’s sometimes difficult as a reader to put your finger on the reason why. 

(This paragraph contains spoilers): I think this distinction between reasonable and inappropriate is most obvious in Tatum’s drunk email to the journalist towards the end of the novel. Unlike Mateo, she notes, the journalist doesn’t feel the need to respond to her email. He doesn’t choose to cross that line, while Mateo never had any qualms about inserting himself into his young fan’s life. I particularly appreciated the way that Mateo’s final choice to use Tatum’s life, without permission or credit, as inspiration for his new novel imitates the choices that famous male artists have made throughout history. This plot point reminded me of artists like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Picasso, who are still celebrated for their originality and creativity despite their unashamed plagiarism of the work and experiences of the women in their lives.