Very rarely do I read books that actually make me laugh-out-loud. Yes, there’s plenty of smiles, but audible laughs, not so often. Happily, I have enjoyed a few laugh-out-loud books this year (notably here and here), and recently I read two in a row – joy! The first was Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey, and the second, Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny.

Really Good, Actually focuses on Maggie, who we meet at the end of her 608-day marriage. Maggie tries to convince herself (and those around her) that she is ‘fine’. She is determined to embrace her new status as a Surprisingly Young Divorcée; has taken up ‘sadness hobbies’ (….one day after some particularly intense decoupage…); and is ‘getting back out there’, sex-wise. But behind the brave facade, Maggie finds herself questioning marriage, and what constitutes success.

He’d moved out, taking the cat (for now) and a gaming system and three acoustic guitars. The idea of Jon writing breakup songs in some dark sublet filled me with equal parts deep despair and incredible relief – despair, to think that I’d caused him such pain he’d been driven to experimental songwriting; relief that I wouldn’t have to listen to it.

In Standard Deviation, we meet Graham Cavanaugh and his second wife, Audra. Audra is everything his first wife was not – gregarious, spontaneous, exhausting. She considers herself privileged to live in the age of the hair towel, talks non-stop, and welcomes a constant stream of house guests. While trying to navigate every day challenges, including managing their son’s diagnosis with Asperger’s, Graham’s first wife, Elspeth, reenters his life. Like Maggie in Really Good, Actually, Graham finds himself examining the elements of a successful relationship.

These books deserve individual reviews but I’m putting them together because of some similarities. The first, as I mentioned, is the fact that they made me laugh. Really, really laugh.

Heisey titles one chapter ‘Well-meaning Conversations with Loved Ones, Truncated at the Exact Moment They Start to Bring Up Kintsugi‘, which includes this from an acquaintance –

“God, I had no idea it was so hard to get a divorce. When Sammy and I broke up she just, like, took her loom and was out of there. But I guess it gives you some time to get super-hot and show up to sign the papers like, Sorry, who are you? You should get some big earrings. Also remind me to send you a link to this video I saw somewhere, I’ll have to find it. It’s about the concept that you can embrace the cracks in things, like if you – “

In Standard Deviation, you’ll either love or hate Audra’s obliviousness to personal boundaries (I found her hilarious) –

“I love massages,” Audra said. “I don’t mind that I’m paying someone to touch me. That doesn’t extend to hookers, though.” She glanced at Bentrup with an apologetic expression, as though to imply that everyone present knew Bentrup had a heavy prostitute habit but they all liked him anyway.

Secondly, both books feature middle-aged characters that seemed like they were written just for me (or about me…!).

‘You caught me at a good time,’ I said. ‘I’ve been readings a lot of Esther Perel.’

‘You know, in general, I feel my standards of mothering have declined over the years. Doesn’t it seem like I should have got better after so much practice? Like by this point, I should just be able to snap my fingers and – poof! – Matthew’s dressed and fed and loved and secure? But instead it’s more like Downton Abbey and I had a couple of very strong seasons there in the beginning and now I’m cutting corners like crazy.’

Thirdly, the minor characters in both books are superb. The banter between Maggie and her friends is a highlight, capturing the shorthand of old friends with a shared history –

‘Absolutely not,’ Lauren said, after I suggested we sign up for a krav maga intensive Olivia promised would wreck us. ‘No adult starts a hobby from a good place.’

In Standard Deviation, origami might be considered a character in itself. Audra and Graham embrace Matthew’s talent for origami, including taking him to an origami club that meets weekly (made up of adult men who Graham suspects are all on the autism spectrum). Initially Graham is reluctant to drop Matthew off with strangers who might be ‘child predators’, to which Audra says, “Well…think how much trouble it would be for a child predator to learn how to fold that Tadashi Mori Dragon -“

Lastly, both books deal with disenfranchised grief, and both do so beautifully. The treatment of Matthew’s diagnosis with Asperger’s was sensitively handled, capturing Audra and Graham’s complex emotions –

You didn’t know then that having a child with special needs would seep into every part of your life, like rain through topsoil. Who would ever think you would be happy to host a strange boy and his grandfather for a month just so your kid could have a best friend?

Both books get 4.5/5 from me 🙂