"Amber Sparks' long-awaited debut novel is almost here: 'a story about secrets, and buried trauma and little goth children.... In my writing, theres a ghost in everything, because IRL there is a ghost in everything, Sparks adds. Even if the ghost is just me, haunting myself and my fiction forever." -- People "Amber Sparks is one of my favorite living writers, and Happy People Dont Live Here is just as searing, funny, and unforgettable as I hoped. In the world of Amber Sparks, ten-year-old girls are extraordinary and ghosts are regular as rain. This is an enthralling novel about how mothers haunt their daughters and vice versa, and the beautiful fact of love after death. Alice and Fern feel like they have always existed and always will. Get ready for your new favorite novel." -- Marie-Helene Bertino, author of Beautyland "Strange and surprisingly uncanny, Amber Sparkss new novel is a twisty, delicious trip down the rabbit hole. Every family story is a haunted house, and this one gives us everything spooky and so much more. A beautiful book, and a slippery one, tooSparks has built something terribly, wonderfully fascinating with Happy People Dont Live Here. A stunner." -- Kristen Arnett, author of Stop Me If Youve Heard This One "With the fantastical inventiveness of Karen Russell and the cutting social wit of Shirley Jackson, Amber Sparks spins a moving tale of a mother and daughter finding their way amid a community of (mostly) loveable weirdos. A smart, funny, and unforgettable debut from one of my favorite writers!" -- Matt Bell, author of Appleseed
