To the rest of the world, Polly Solo-Miller Demarest lives acharmed life. She has a beautiful home, a dashing lawyer husband, and two delightful children. But beneath this idyllic surface, the pressure of being the "perfect flower"of an illustrious family--and a stable, always-available wife, mother, and daughter--are getting to her. The spark has gone out of her marriage, and to her own surprise, she's having an affair. What follows is at once cathartic and provoking, and both may be necessary states in order for Polly to become the kind of person she wants to be. Like all of Laurie Colwin's books, Family Happiness is a heartfelt novel about a midlife crisis and a woman tired of beingtaken for granted--and a reminder that family, like happiness, can take many forms.