Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
The Underside of Joy by Sere Prince Halverson
Add The Underside of Joy to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf

Look Inside | Reading Guide

The Underside of Joy

A Novel

A Novel

By Sere Prince Halverson

By Sere Prince Halverson

By Sere Prince Halverson

By Sere Prince Halverson

By Sere Prince Halverson
Read by Geneva Carr

By Sere Prince Halverson
Read by Geneva Carr

Best Seller
Paperback $22.00

Nov 27, 2012 | ISBN 9780452298736

Ebook $6.99

Jan 12, 2012 | ISBN 9781101554333

Audiobook Download $17.50

Jan 12, 2012 | 570 Minutes

All Formats
+
    The Underside of Joy by Sere Prince Halverson
    Paperback $22.00
    Nov 27, 2012 | ISBN 9780452298736

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (2) +
    • $22.00

      Nov 27, 2012 | ISBN 9780452298736

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Jan 12, 2012 | ISBN 9781101554333

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Jan 12, 2012 | ISBN 9781101538531

      570 Minutes

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Audiobook Download:

    About The Underside of Joy

    “[An] exquisite debut . . . moving and hopeful.” –People Style Watch

    To Ella Beene, happiness means living in the Northern California river town of Elbow, California, with her husband Joe and his two young children. But one summer day Joe drowns, leaving Ella alone with Annie and Zach—until his ex-wife, Paige, shows up at the funeral. For three years, Ella believed that Paige had selfishly abandoned her family. Yet—as the custody fight between mother and stepmother ensues—Ella realizes there may be more to the story than Joe ever revealed.

    The Underside of Joy is not a fairy-tale version of step-motherhood, pitting good against evil, but a captivating story of two women who both claim to be the mother of the same two children.

    About The Underside of Joy

    Set against the backdrop of Redwood forests and shimmering vineyards, Seré Prince Halverson’s compelling debut tells the story of two women, bound by an unspeakable loss, who each claims to be the mother of the same two children.

    To Ella Beene, happiness means living in the northern California river town of Elbow with her husband, Joe, and his two young children. Yet one summer day Joe breaks his own rule-never turn your back on the ocean-and a sleeper wave strikes him down, drowning not only the man but his many secrets.

    For three years, Ella has been the only mother the kids have known and has believed that their biological mother, Paige, abandoned them. But when Paige shows up at the funeral, intent on reclaiming the children, Ella soon realizes there may be more to Paige and Joe’s story. "Ella’s the best thing that’s happened to this family," say her close-knit Italian-American in-laws, for generations the proprietors of a local market. But their devotion quickly falters when the custody fight between mother and stepmother urgently and powerfully collides with Ella’s quest for truth.

    The Underside of Joy is not a fairy-tale version of stepmotherhood pitting good Ella against evil Paige, but an exploration of the complex relationship of two mothers. Their conflict uncovers a map of scars-both physical and emotional-to the families’ deeply buried tragedies, including Italian internment camps during World War II and postpartum psychosis.

    Weaving a rich fictional tapestry abundantly alive with the glorious natural beauty of the novel’s setting, Halverson is a captivating guide through the flora and fauna of human emotion-grief and anger, shame and forgiveness, happiness and its shadow complement . . . the underside of joy.

    About The Underside of Joy

    Set against the backdrop of Redwood forests and shimmering vineyards, Seré Prince Halverson’s compelling debut tells the story of two women, bound by an unspeakable loss, who each claims to be the mother of the same two children.

    To Ella Beene, happiness means living in the northern California river town of Elbow with her husband, Joe, and his two young children. Yet one summer day Joe breaks his own rule-never turn your back on the ocean-and a sleeper wave strikes him down, drowning not only the man but his many secrets.

    For three years, Ella has been the only mother the kids have known and has believed that their biological mother, Paige, abandoned them. But when Paige shows up at the funeral, intent on reclaiming the children, Ella soon realizes there may be more to Paige and Joe’s story. “Ella’s the best thing that’s happened to this family,” say her close-knit Italian-American in-laws, for generations the proprietors of a local market. But their devotion quickly falters when the custody fight between mother and stepmother urgently and powerfully collides with Ella’s quest for truth.

    The Underside of Joy is not a fairy-tale version of stepmotherhood pitting good Ella against evil Paige, but an exploration of the complex relationship of two mothers. Their conflict uncovers a map of scars-both physical and emotional-to the families’ deeply buried tragedies, including Italian internment camps during World War II and postpartum psychosis.

    Weaving a rich fictional tapestry abundantly alive with the glorious natural beauty of the novel’s setting, Halverson is a captivating guide through the flora and fauna of human emotion-grief and anger, shame and forgiveness, happiness and its shadow complement . . . the underside of joy.

    Reading Guide

    Reading Guide

    Reading Guide

    About Sere Prince Halverson

    Seré Prince Halverson is the international bestselling author of The Underside of Joy and All the Winters After. She worked as a freelance copywriter for 20 years while she wrote fiction—books that have since been translated into 18 languages. Halverson and… More about Sere Prince Halverson

    About Sere Prince Halverson

    Seré Prince Halverson is the international bestselling author of The Underside of Joy and All the Winters After. She worked as a freelance copywriter for 20 years while she wrote fiction—books that have since been translated into 18 languages. Halverson and… More about Sere Prince Halverson

    About Sere Prince Halverson

    Seré Prince Halverson is the international bestselling author of The Underside of Joy and All the Winters After. She worked as a freelance copywriter for 20 years while she wrote fiction—books that have since been translated into 18 languages. Halverson and… More about Sere Prince Halverson

    Product Details

    Category: Literary Fiction | Women’s Fiction

    Paperback | $22.00
    Published by Plume
    Nov 27, 2012 | 320 Pages | 5-5/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780452298736

    Category: Literary Fiction | Women’s Fiction

    Ebook | $6.99
    Published by Plume
    Jan 12, 2012 | 320 Pages | ISBN 9781101554333

    Category: Literary Fiction | Women’s Fiction | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $17.50
    Published by Penguin Audio
    Jan 12, 2012 | 570 Minutes | ISBN 9781101538531

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Praise

    "The writing in The Underside of Joy is as purely beautiful as the story is emotionally complex. When Ella Beene is wrenched from a state of unexamined happiness into confusion and grief, she finds that her only hope of emerging whole is to face searing and long-buried truths. Ella embarks on a difficult journey, both morally and materially, one that requires her to risk losing everything she most loves. I cheered (sometimes through tears) her every step." -Marisa de los Santos

    "An exquisite debut…moving and hopeful." –People Style Watch

    "Searingly smart and exquisitely written, Halverson’s knockout debut limns family, marriage and a custody battle in a way that gets under your skin and leaves you changed. To say I loved this book would be an understatement." -Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You

    “A book club favorite.” –Associated Press

    “Engrossing and keenly affecting.” –Dallas Morning News

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read

    Today's Top Books

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

         An online magazine for today’s home cook

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook