Naoise Dolan’s debut novel, EXCITING TIMES, made waves for its wryly comic style and its smart, insightful exploration of both queer and Irish identities. Now, in her second book, THE HAPPY COUPLE, she continues to examine questions of queerness and the Irish diaspora, playing out in the leadup to a wedding that may or may not happen.

Celine, a talented musician, has had one great love in her life (apart from the piano, naturally). Ultimately, however, her romance with fellow pianist Maria couldn’t withstand a level of professional jealousy between them. Is it any wonder that after their breakup, Celine should turn to someone who is practically Maria’s opposite in every way? He’s a man, for one thing, and a man who’s entirely disinterested in the piano. Luke is not really passionate about anything other than infidelity and stops sleeping around only when Celine gives him an ultimatum. He does love his friends (more on that later) and is eventually charmed by Celine’s own dedication to her art.

"Dolan’s writing is succinct and her humor blunt, playing out in short sentences and prose that is crisp and lively.... [T]he culminating chapter that brings all these characters together for the wedding creates genuine suspense."

Luke is part of a group of friends who met their first year at university in England, thrown together thanks to the circumstances of all of them being Irish (or at least Irish-ish). Among them is Archie, soon to be the best man at Luke and Celine’s wedding but also still pining for the romance that he and Luke once shared. Blunt, calculating Vivian also slept with Luke a couple of times, but now she’s back to being one of the boys, more than happy to call out anyone in the group on their nonsense.

Though they’re living in Dublin, Luke and Celine accept a family member’s offer to host the engagement party at their London home. When Luke disappears from the party for hours, supposedly called back to Dublin for work but spotted by Celine the next morning at Heathrow Airport, seeds of doubt are planted. Both members of the happy couple, not to mention their relatives and closest friends, are left to wonder whether or not their impending nuptials are going to take place.

THE HAPPY COUPLE is formally playful, divided into six sections --- one each for the bride, the groom, the best man, the bridesmaid and the wedding guest, as well as one for the wedding day itself. Luke’s section is both funny and revealing, as he makes no fewer than 50 failed attempts to compose his wedding toast. And although it’s hardly the book’s main point, the culminating chapter that brings all these characters together for the wedding creates genuine suspense. At one point, for example, Dolan offers readers several possible outcomes to one pivotal conversation.

Dolan’s writing is succinct and her humor blunt, playing out in short sentences and prose that is crisp and lively. Her characters are, for the most part, comfortable and confident in their sexuality, even though some do point out the ways in which Luke and Celine’s potential nuptials reinforce the expected marriage model that some of the other pairings would disrupt. Dolan also comments consistently on the complexities and characteristics of the Irish diaspora. Even though some of the particulars may go over the heads of American readers, the characters’ quips at one another’s expense offer a fresh glimpse at these dynamics.