This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage cover art

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage

By: Ann Patchett
Narrated by: Ann Patchett
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

 Bloomsbury presents This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage written and read by Ann Patchett.

So compellingly personal you feel you’re looking over her shoulder as she sits down to write' New York Times

'Electrically entertaining ... Funny, generous, spirited and kind' The Times

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is an irresistible blend of literature and memoir revealing the big experiences and little moments that shaped Ann Patchett as a daughter, wife, friend and writer.

Here, Ann Patchett shares entertaining and moving stories about her tumultuous childhood, her painful early divorce, the excitement of selling her first book, driving a Winnebago from Montana to Yellowstone Park, her joyous discovery of opera, scaling a six-foot wall in order to join the Los Angeles Police Department, the gradual loss of her beloved grandmother, starting her own bookshop in Nashville, her love for her very special dog and, of course, her eventual happy marriage.

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a memoir both wide ranging and deeply personal, overflowing with close observation and emotional wisdom, told with wit, honesty and irresistible warmth.©2013 Ann Patchett (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Art & Literature Authors Women Marriage Memoir Happiness

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake cover art
Bel Canto cover art
Parnassus on Wheels cover art
The Letters of Shirley Jackson cover art
The Poisonwood Bible cover art
Middlemarch cover art
David Copperfield cover art
A Prayer for Owen Meany cover art
Born with Teeth cover art
Emma [Naxos Edition] cover art
Anna Karenina cover art
Florence Grace cover art
Life Itself cover art
Leaving the Witness cover art
Mommie Dearest: 40th Anniversary Edition cover art
The Elegance of the Hedgehog cover art
All stars
Most relevant
I think essay writing is when Ann Patchett is at her best.
Each one is so affecting, each in a different way.
She’s not overly sentimental, but she writes with an insight and clarity that captures whatever she’s writing about so perfectly that it makes it feel poignant and true.

As lovely as ever

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Absolutely loved these essays, stories and other writings - such fascinating, endearing, funny, sad insights into Ann’s inner life, process, personal history, and everything else that has shaped her writing.
It’s especially fun recognising real-life circumstances that have been woven into the fictional lives she creates. I only wish I’d listened to this before These Precious Days, for the sake of continuity and fewer ‘spoilers’. Ann Patchett is a treasure and we are lucky to have her.

Wonderful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Patchett writes about her life giving good close attention to things we all take for granted

Excellent.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I liked hearing Ann’s story, the ups and downs. The short story format worked very well.

Insight into the Interesting writing process

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I listened to this as it's on the Reese Witherspoon book club list, but didn’t really enjoy it. It's a series of uninteresting essays, read by the author in a very uninspired manner. I won’t be selecting any more Ann Patchett titles based on thsi

Terribly dull

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.