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Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee
Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee
Jan 2, 2026 1:51 PM

Author:Meera Syal

Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee

Contains a sneak preview of Meera Syal's brand new novel, THE HOUSE OF HIDDEN MOTHERS

There’s no such thing as a happy ending , is there …?

Sunita - perfect housewife - is married to Akash, but is her marriage what it seems?

Chila - warm, loveable - has married with great fanfare the entrepreneur Deepak. But are they really in love?

Tania - beautiful, rebellious - has rejected her traditional upbringing for a top television career. But is she really as tough as she says?

As Tania uncovers a devastating truth, are the three friends about to learn the hardest life lesson of all …?

MEERA SYAL, CBE, is one of our most acclaimed actors and writers. She starred in the hit series The Kumars at No. 42 and recently in the BBC film of David Walliams' The Boy in the Dress. She is currently in the latest series of Broadchurch Meera Syal is also known for her sharp, provocative fiction. Her debut novel is called Anita and Me. Life isn't all Ha Ha Hee Hee is her second acclaimed novel. Her brand new novel The House of Hidden Mothers is out now.

Reviews

Funny and sharp.

—— Independent

A superbly crafted, page turning comedy which isn't afraid to tackle the big subjects...heartfelt, heartwarming and very, very good.

—— The Mirror

Extremely funny, wonderfully insightful...a big ambitious book with serious points to be made about the choices women face today...Syal mixes her message with hilarious set pieces.

—— Sunday Express

The story surges along on a rip-tide of wisecracks and wisdom...excellent.

—— Sunday Telegraph

A magical mosaic of friendship, betrayal and cross-cultural incongruities. By turns spicy, hilarious and sad, it unfolds the ties that bind young women to their East End Punjabi roots even as they head west for trendy careers, café bars and sexual freedom.

—— She

An engrossing and provocative book, both funny and sad.

—— Big Issue

A witty and uncomfortably accurate look at our obsession with the past

—— Kate Saunders , Saga Magazine

France skilfully weaves together a believable, deftly characterised and scholarly tale

—— Patricia Nicol , Sunday Times

unique . . . beautifully written . . . powerful

—— Daily Mail

Bray slips with thoroughness, imagination and dexterity into each of the characters' consciousness . . . [She] is wincingly honest and emotions are portrayed with an assurance that comes from understanding . . . A Song for Issy Bradley is a skilful and empathetic dramatisation. The fact that it deals with such distressing subject matter without falling prey to sentimentality makes it all the more admirable . . . There are some wonderful one-liners . . .Bray's greatest gift, however, is understatement.

—— Grace McCleen , Guardian

Happy the debut novelist who can write well but who also has access to extraordinary subject matter. This is an impressive debut from a compassionate, wise and original new voice.

—— Suzi Feay , Independent

Bray performs a small miracle of her own by inhabiting each family member at every stage of the tragedy as their doubts and fears creep in . . . [and] manages it with an astonishing lightness of touch . . . A stunning, unmissable debut.

—— Christie Hickman , Sunday Express

While this debut is heart-rendingly poignant with a bleak tragedy at its heart, it's also funny and vividly written.

—— Sunday Mirror

I loved A SONG FOR ISSY BRADLEY: such courage, warmth and intelligence. Carys Bray sweetly and subtly breaks your heart. It's an incredible debut.

—— Charlotte Mendelson, author of Booker-longlisted ALMOST ENGLISH and Orange Prize-shortlisted, WHEN WE WERE BAD

Such strong writing, with so much fine imagery . . . very moving. It sings. The characters are completely believable and their grief is conveyed with a truly admirable, unsentimental lightness of touch, which brought laughter between the tears.

—— Emma Henderson, author of Orange-shortlisted GRACE WILLIAMS SAYS IT LOUD

In places it is devastating, but it is also unexpectedly funny, even joyful, a hugely impressive novel about what it means to grieve – and to be part of a family.

—— The Bookseller

I was hooked by this beadily observed and moving portrayal of grief, doubt and faith.

—— Debut of the Month , Woman & Home

Uncontrollable bawling on public transport alert! … Deeply effecting… A seriously impressive debut

—— Glamour magazine

Just beautiful.

—— Mostly Yummy Mummy blog

One calls this a novel but it could just as easily be a selection of short stories, each perfect of its kind… This is masterly prose… It’s a feat.

—— Melanie McDonagh , Evening Standard

This is a rich, capacious story, buoyed by tender humour.

—— Ron Charles , Washington Post

It’s Enright’s ability to capture with such wit and exactitude the multi-faceted, many-textured realities of her character’ lives that keeps the pages turning.

—— Stephanie Cross , Daily Mail

With The Forgotten Waltz in 2011…Anne Enright really found her voice. She returns to it in her new novel, The Green Road.

—— The Economist

As the book snaps shut you almost want to applaud. That’s how good The Green Road…really is.

—— Cath Turner , Nudge

A beautifully observed study of motivation and memory, nuanced and funny and sad.

—— Eithne Farry, 5 stars , Daily Express

This is an insightful family portrait, by turns sensitive and stark, in which the challenges of modern life are tempered by moments of grace.

—— Image

A piercingly beautiful collection of set pieces about the unresolved ebb and flow of family relationships.

—— Claire Allfree, 4 stars , Metro

Enright has delivered a fine work about how you can’t escape the past.

—— John Dennehy , National

[A] wonderful book.

—— Woman’s Way

The novel of [Enright’s] already storied career.

—— Irish Central

With language so vibrant it practically has a pulse, Enright makes an exquisitely drawn case for the possibility of growth, love and transformation at any age.

—— People Magazine

No-one quite matches Enright for her quality of writing, her deftness of insight.

—— Neil Stewart , Civilian

This is a captivating, spellbinding evocation of how your nearest and not-so-dearest can wreak emotional havoc.

—— Psychologies

Glitteringly good.

—— Kerry Fowler , Sainsbury’s Magazine

The Green Road has been receiving glowing reviews and it's easy to see why. The story, set over four decades, gives us deep insights into the five main characters, all of whom tell us something about ourselves as Irish people, and all of whom you are sorry to leave as a reader.

—— Edel Coffey , Irish Independent

Enright is the most extraordinary writer – her style is simple and honest, no gimmicks, just straight to the heart.

—— Victoria Hislop , Sainsbury’s Magazine

A powerful evocation of leaving and returning home.

—— Ruth Scurr , Financial Times

Masterful.

—— Fiona Wilson , The Times

Watch out for it come Man Booker time.

—— Sunday Times

Enright captures beautifully the tensions of…forced festive gatherings, the sibling rivalry and the maternal melancholy of a woman who does not understand her feelings towards her own children.

—— Good Book Guide

Richly and sensuously realised, it’s vivid with the particularity of places and people and bruisingly intelligent.

—— Tessa Hadley , Guardian

Enright shows real insight and perception when it comes to family relationships. It’s a well-structured and well-paced narrative.

—— Mandy Jenkinson , Nudge

Written with raw and brutal honesty, this is one to savour.

—— Justine Carbery , Irish Independent

Enright’s writing is sharp and lucid and full of beautiful phrases and descriptions.

—— Reading Matters

I love Enright’s style and the spidering out of the siblings’ lives.

—— Claire Skinner , Daily Express

There is beauty and darkness, hypocrisy and humility; it wouldn’t be an Irish novel without them.

—— Sarah Churchwell , New Statesman

The Green Road, about one Irish family, confronts all that is essential: love, death, mothers and our own flawed selves. It is written with a kind of tenderness, beauty and insight that transmogrifies humdrum experience into the epiphanic and back again.

—— Arifa Akbar , Independent

Blisteringly funny and keenly perceptive.

—— Peter Kemp , Sunday Times

Deeply affecting, crackling with wit, and consistently magnificent.

—— Stephanie Cross , Daily Mail

A globe-trotting, kaleidoscopic portrait of Irish siblings and their difficult mother.

—— Justine Jordan , Guardian

A magnificent novel about family and belonging told in stark yet sparkling prose.

—— Stylist

A fierce, funny, loosely woven family saga.

—— Alex Preston , Observer

[A] darkly glinting novel of family life.

—— Ruth Scurr , The Spectator

A bravura example of shifting voices and perspectives, all of which benefit from Enright’s splendid prose and careful restraint.

—— Sarah Churchwell , New Statesman

Enright dissects [her character’s] foibles with warmth, wit and a bracing lack of sentimentality.

—— Simon Kuper , Financial Times

A book you don’t put down until it is finished, dragging you right into the heart of another Irish family as only Anne Enright can.

—— Keelin Shanley , Irish Times

A family saga, beginning with intense and beautifully detailed character studies.

—— Mark O'Halloran , Irish Times

I... enjoyed The Green Road for the dialogue, the clever narrative structure, and the gnarled, contemporary sense of family values.

—— Paul Durcan , Irish Times

I could not put it down. Chapter two is a masterpiece.

—— Edna O'Brien , Irish Times

Stylish prose that charts the fortunes and misfortunes of this family over a period of 25 years.

—— Anne O'Neill , Irish Times

In this brilliant, captivating novel, the poised, impossible and always disappointed matriarch Rosaleen Madigan makes life difficult for her children at a Christmas gathering.

—— Charlotte Heathcote , Sunday Express

Few Novelists pick apart domestic relationships with the poetry and precision of Anne Enright.

—— Claire Allfree , Metro

Sharp yet oh so subtle storytelling […] this is an author at the height of her formidable powers.

—— Stephen Meyler , RTE Guide

An exquisitely written portrait of a family, and a country, on the cusp of enormous change.

—— Paul Nolan , Hot Press

Exquisitely written and hugely enjoyable.

—— National

A brilliant approach to the sadness of a disconnected family, who are like satellites out of sync.

—— Anthony Cummins , Sunday Telegraph

Enright’s virtuosic tale of an Irish family- the Madigans- across continents and decades withholds closure but doesn’t skimp on pleasure

—— five stars , Daily Telegraph

A compelling novel, full of astute observations, beautifully written, sometimes stark and other times aching with longing

—— Collette Sheridan , Irish Examiner

The sweep of the book and Anne Enright's way fo pulling this global migratuon story together with such energy and detail puts her in somewhere beside Toni Morrison

—— Independent, Ireland

Heart-wrenching novel… The surgical precision of Enright’s writing makes you feel that she can, in Wordsworth’s words, “see into the life of things”. There is a singing simplicity to it that tugs at your heart…A masterly work.

—— Christina Patterson , Sunday Times

Beautifully observed. Enright is a great writer.

—— William Leith , Evening Standard

Bold and brilliant.

—— The Week

Incredible… I’m totally captivated.

—— Annie Mac , The Sunday Times

An evocative story about family ties and belonging.

—— Western Morning News

A brilliant read.

—— Western Morning News

A story of fracture and family, selfishness and compassion.

—— SheerLuxe.com

Sharply funny portrait of an Irish family meeting for a final Christmas.

—— Metro

Within pages I was wrapped in the warmth of Enright’s prose… This is a beautiful book… Enright is unquestionably a fantastic writer who, for me with this novel, conjured up the world of a family with all its highs and lows that felt like they might be having this reunion down the end of your road… Enright does two of my favourite things in fiction. She makes the ordinary, and everything we take for granted, seem extra ordinary. She also gives voices to those who have not been able to share their tales… The writing is stunning.

—— Simon Savidge , Savidge Reads

An evocative story about family ties and belonging. Anne Enright is deservedly a well-respected writer.

—— Western Morning News

Enright's novels are fantastically well-crafted, eloquent and funny… Each character is beautifully realized… She finds unexpected adjectives, brilliantly exact description, the spot-on emotion. Her writing is lyrical but always unsentimental. There is pleasure in reading every paragraph, and an enormous wisdom throughout the pages.

—— Mumsnet

Truly wonderful… The dialogue is particularly brilliant… It completely envelops you in the story and will leave you wanting more.

—— Belfast Telegraph Morning

Wonderful… The dialogue is particularly brilliant, capturing all the barbed snappiness of dinner with siblings.

—— Herald

I fell headfirst into the beautifully written prose of this novel, so authentic and charming in its telling of one Irish family over more than two decades. Each vibrant character gets a turn in almost short stories of their own that feel almost like entities in their own right. I adored it.

—— Cathy Levy , Red Online

A resonant, masterly work.

—— Sunday Times

[An] exceptional novel.

—— David Nicholls , Guardian

This is a flawless book, it’s utterly flawless… It has just touched so many other readers. This book is heartbreaking… A beautiful examination of unhappy families… The power of Anne’s writing is you all see a reflection of your own family…it’s tender and it’s beautiful and deserves to be widely read.

—— Victoria Sadler

Enright is undoubtedly one of our most prominent novelists

—— Elif Shafak , Week
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