Erin Van Rheenen

Coming Sept 16, 2025

You Could Be Happy Here

Shortly after the untimely death of her mother, Lucy makes a series of discoveries that shatter her idea of who she is and where she belongs. Do her own grief and outrage give her the right to claim her Costa Rican inheritance? Could she be happy there? A gripping novel about how far we’ll go to find our true home.

Pre-order now:
“Part family story, part travel adventure, part meditation on the challenges of belonging, Van Rheenen's debut novel weaves these things together in a story that never goes where you think it's going, but always takes you someplace wonderful.”
—Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and Booth
“A brilliant debut and a beautiful tale of personal discovery...
This book may change forever how you think about family and belonging.”
—Pat Murphy, Nebula Award winning author of The Adventures of Mary Darling
“...vividly captures... the profound understanding that we are all in this messy life together...
Beautifully written and soul-searching.”
—Sharman Apt Russell, author of An Obsession with Butterflies
“I actually found myself dreaming about the characters a few times.
They really came alive for me.”
—David Martin, Ship Captain and long-time resident of Costa Rica
“With familial layers and a richness of place, You Could Be Happy Here encompasses the universal appeal of looking for home while stepping into the unknown. I was blown away by the beauty of the prose, as well as the wonder and pathos of the story.”
Nikki Nash, author of Collateral Stardust

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