Happy Families

Behind Every Smile Lies a Secret

Happy Families by bestselling author Adele Parks, published by Penguin Books in 2008, is a sharp, emotionally charged novella that peels back the layers of domestic bliss to reveal the messy truths beneath. Known for her keen insight into modern relationships, Parks delivers a poignant and relatable story that will resonate with anyone who's ever questioned the picture-perfect ideal.

Meet Lisa, a devoted wife and mother, doing her best to keep everything running smoothly—until the arrival of an unexpected letter throws her carefully balanced world into chaos. Suddenly, the cracks in her happy home are impossible to ignore. As tensions rise and long-buried doubts resurface, Lisa is forced to confront not just her family's fragile foundation, but her own desires and disappointments.

In just a few powerful chapters, Parks captures the complexity of love, loyalty, and the quiet struggles we hide behind polite smiles and dinner table conversations. Happy Families is both intimate and universal—a story of trying to hold it all together, even when everything is falling apart.

Witty, tender, and heartbreakingly real, this novella proves that even the most “perfect” families are only human after all.