57 pages • 1 hour read
Emily HenryHappy Place
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Harriet Kilpatrick
Harriet, the story’s protagonist, needs to experience growth to become her best self and rekindle her love with Wyn. She’s a driven, brilliant, indecisive, conflict-averse, selfless, thoughtful, and empathetic 30-year-old woman who often puts the needs of others before her own—a quality highlighted in numerous scenes. For instance, Harriet enters medical school not because she has a passion for surgery, but to help others and please her parents after they sacrificed so much time, money, and personal dreams to help her attend college: “They’ve done everything. Shelled out for tutors, paid the fees for every club I signed up for, chauffeured me back and forth, helped me study when they were dead tired from work, cosigned my med school loans” (244-46). Because she wants to repay her parents out of guilt, Harriet can’t admit she isn’t happy in this career; she’s ashamed medicine isn’t making her feel fulfilled but terrified of performing surgery.
Harriet’s conflict-avoidance stems from her childhood. Since she grew up in a household that used yelling and silence to fight, she believes conflict cannot solve problems. Instead, it’s easier to ensure everyone is content, to keep tempers even. Thus, Harriet always tamps down her own negative emotions and intercedes between Sabrina and Cleo when they bicker. She also stifled all emotion after Wyn lost his father, Hank. To spare Wyn’s feelings, she ignored wedding planning and never revealed that she was upset when he’d cancel calls or visits to see her. She did this to make life easier for Wyn while he was grieving, but all it did was push him away under the mistaken impression that she didn’t care about him anymore. By not engaging in conflict or sharing her raw, honest emotions, Harriet followed the wrong career path and lost the love of her life.
Harriet experiences immense growth in the novel. She becomes more open, vulnerable, and decisive. For example, she tells Wyn how miserable she is at her residency, confronts him about breaking up with her without giving reasons, admits to her friends that she was distancing herself because she couldn’t face the reality of losing Wyn, quits her residency thus defying her parents’ wishes, and finally listens to her intuition that she needs to be with Wyn forever: “All my life, I’ve let other voices creep in, and they’ve drowned out my own. Now my mind is strangely quiet. For the first time in so long, I hear myself clearly. One word. All it takes to answer the only question that can’t wait. You” (369).
Wyn Connor
Harriet’s love interest Wyn is sweet, caring, outdoorsy, athletic, easygoing, loving, protective, self-deprecating, and prone to not valuing himself, especially in comparison to his “brainiac” sisters and Harriet. Growing up in Montana in an affectionate family full of laughter and traditions, Wyn enjoys the outdoors, carpentry in his father’s furniture business, and quality time with loved ones. Harriet adores his thoughtfulness: He always asks others if they need anything when he goes shopping, brings Harriet treats, and takes out the trash without any of the roommates expecting him to. Because Wyn compares himself to his genius sisters—an aerospace engineer and a writer in the most competitive MFA program—he doesn’t think he’s special. Instead, he’s struggled to get through life, seeing himself as a boring guy without big dreams or successes: “I wanted to be special [...] I spent my whole life chasing things and people who could make me feel like I mattered” (285). However, Harriet’s deep love and encouragement convince Wyn that he’s an incredible person worthy of love and joy. Because he learns to trust himself and believe that he can make Harriet happy, he overcomes his fear of letting Harriet down. He accepts that he is her happy place without pushing her to this conclusion.
Like Harriet, Wyn doesn’t like to cause pain or conflict, so he suppresses his emotions rather than sharing them. As the novel progresses, Wyn is able to be more upfront with Harriet, for instance, by explaining that she isn’t to blame for the break-up—he was protecting her by letting her go, since he didn’t feel good enough for her. As Wyn gains self-esteem through his table-making business, he accepts her assertion that he is all she ever needed to be happy. Wyn and Harriet make each better. Wyn finds renewed happiness by returning home, taking care of his mom, succeeding in a business he started, and earning back his soulmate.
Sabrina
Secondary character Sabrina is one of Harriet and Wyn’s closest friends, a leader in their group, and sometimes a source of conflict. Sabrina is an organized, fashionable, type-A, no-nonsense, caring, direct socialite who always makes first contact. She cares deeply about her friends, holding on tightly and not wanting the relationships change in any way, denying the effects of time and playing into the theme of Shifting Friendship Dynamics. Sabrina’s fears about growing apart is shown in the pivotal scene where she admits she knew about Harriet and Wyn’s break-up, thinks Cleo is flakey and uncooperative, believes Harriet has almost cut her out of her life, and feels the crushing loss of losing her family’s summer home: “one of my best friends keeps canceling plans and the other will barely text me back, and my dad’s selling the only place that’s ever felt anything like home to me, and […] no one except me seems to give a fuck that we’re growing apart” (301).
Sabrina must overcome her sense of loss and learn to accept change; no friendship can remain the same as people mature, and she can’t keep trying to control everything and everyone. In the end, she relinquishes control, sees others’ perspectives, and trusts that she, Cleo, and Harriet will remain close friends forever, even after they lose the symbolic Maine cottage. Her tearful confession in the chapel inspires Cleo and Harriet to take their friendship more seriously and never keep secrets from each other again.
Cleo
Another secondary character, Cleo is an opposing force to Sabrina. Cleo enjoys deep, meaningful conversations; she’s artistic, wise, ecologically-minded, empathetic, and quiet. Like Harriet, Cleo often goes with the flow, but she isn’t spineless or indecisive. Instead, Cleo follows her intuition and knows how to set healthy boundaries, a quality that helps her stand up to Sabrina during their fight: “You don’t get to decide what’s best for everyone. It doesn’t matter how good you think your intentions were. You manipulated us. [...] We’re not in the same place anymore. We’re growing up” (307). In contrast to Harriet, Cleo is unafraid of conflict, though she isn’t mean or filled with anger, as shown in her fight with Sabrina about the tattoo parlor: Cleo is articulate enough to make her points, but also kind and aware enough to reconsider her actions and apologize to Harriet and Sabrina the next day. Without her insightful perspective, the women wouldn’t accept that friendships need to change and adapt.
Cleo’s pregnancy also affects her sense of self: As she shares with Harriet, Cleo has a gnawing worry that she isn’t fun and never has been—especially when not drinking. However, choosing not to drink or get a tattoo for her health shows that Cleo is not a pushover—an example Harriet needs to follow. Cleo also worries she’ll be a stern mom, while Kimmy will be vibrant, silly, and wild. With Harriet’s support, Cleo learns to value her strengths, accepting that they will complement her partner’s maternal style.
Related Titles
By Emily Henry
