Happiness

Sabrina Brooks is a 48-year-old bestselling thriller writer living contentedly in a converted barn in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts with her two dogs. Local architect Steve Jones transformed the barn into her dream home nine years earlier, and Steve's wife, Olivia, became Sabrina's closest friend.

Sabrina's peaceful present masks a painful past. Her father, Alastair Brooks, was an English professor at Boston University, incapable of affection and unwilling to discuss his past. He had an older brother named Rupert whom he never spoke to after leaving England at 26. Sabrina's mother, Simone Vernier, was a young French model who left for another man when Sabrina was six and never contacted her daughter again. Alastair retreated to Vermont after Sabrina left for college. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer during her junior year, and she took a semester off to be with him, but he died at 51 without ever expressing affection. Sabrina refers to her childhood as "The Ice Age."

After college, Sabrina briefly married a surfer from New Zealand primarily so he could obtain a green card. At 28, she married Tom Wilkins, an emergency room doctor who proved to be a controlling abuser. It took five years and a safe house to escape. She fled to New York at 35 and found her voice as a writer, producing her first psychological thriller. By 48, she has seven bestsellers, two movie adaptations, and a life she loves.

Her equilibrium shifts when her publisher forwards a letter from Grayson Abbott, a London attorney, informing her that her uncle, Lord Rupert Brooks, has died childless. Rupert held the hereditary noble title of Viscount Cheltenham, and as the sole surviving relative, Sabrina inherits Brooks Manor, its 600-acre estate, and the corresponding female title of Viscountess. Rupert left funds to maintain the property, so the inheritance carries no financial burden. Panicked, Sabrina declares her intention to sell immediately.

Gray urges her to see the property first, revealing he grew up on the neighboring estate and that his father, Phillip Abbott, was Rupert's close friend. He persuades Sabrina to visit after she finishes her current book. She completes the manuscript and flies to London.

At Claridge's, Sabrina is struck by Gray's good looks. He is 52, a senior partner in his law firm, with two adult children abroad. He wears no wedding ring and never mentions a wife. Gray drives her to the estate in Hampshire, where the manor is filled with antiques and family portraits. Margaret, the elderly housekeeper, greets them. Afterward, Gray introduces Sabrina to Phillip, an 84-year-old retired judge living in the neighboring dower house, a smaller residence on the estate grounds.

Over tea, Phillip reveals the truth Sabrina's father never shared. Alastair and a local girl named Caragh were childhood sweethearts. When their father died and Rupert returned from South Africa to inherit, Rupert and Caragh fell in love and eloped. Alastair left England forever. Three years later, Caragh died in a hunting accident while pregnant, and Rupert never married again. For the first time, Sabrina feels deep compassion for her father, understanding that his emotional paralysis stemmed from a double betrayal: Caragh left him for Rupert, and Simone later left him for another man.

Sabrina returns to the estate alone the next day and discovers Caragh's hidden grave near the lake. Gray invites her to dinner, and over a champagne-filled evening, their connection deepens. They have drinks at Claridge's afterward, and Gray texts that it was the best evening he has had in years. When Sabrina stays at the manor that weekend, Gray visits and kisses her for the first time. The passion between them is intense, though they do not sleep together.

What Sabrina does not know is that Gray has a wife. Matilda returned home from visiting their daughter in Australia several days before, and Gray is fully aware she is there. He and Matilda have led separate lives for a decade but never pursued a divorce. Gray has never met anyone who made him want to change the arrangement until Sabrina.

The truth emerges at a dinner party hosted by Sabrina's British publisher, Felicity Parker-Smythe. When Felicity introduces Sabrina to "Matilda and Gray Abbott," Sabrina's face freezes. She tells Gray he lied by omission, orders him never to contact her again, and texts him to sell the estate. The next morning she drives to the property, concludes it was her father's and uncle's history rather than hers, and flies home to the Berkshires.

Gray refuses to let her go. He flies to Massachusetts unannounced with the sale papers as a pretext and apologizes, acknowledging his failure to disclose his marriage. Sabrina offers him the guest room, but their attraction overwhelms them, and they make love for the first time. They spend the weekend together, talking openly. Gray tells her he will not return until he is free of his marriage, and they part with declarations of love.

Back in London, Gray tells Matilda he wants a divorce. She proposes they try again, but he refuses. Their conversation is interrupted when Phillip falls and breaks his hip. Gray moves into his father's home to help him recover, and Phillip encourages him to pursue his happiness.

Meanwhile, Sabrina locates her mother through an internet search and flies to Miami. Simone, now 70 and managing a cheap dress shop in Coral Gables, Florida, explains that she married Alastair to come to America, never wanted a child, and left when she fell in love with someone else. She shows no regret. Sabrina leaves understanding that her parents' inability to love had nothing to do with her, grasping at last that she was lovable even if she was not loved.

Gray's divorce battle turns bitter. Matilda demands the house and generous support, hires an aggressive lawyer, and calls their daughter Prunella with distorted claims. Negotiations drag on all summer, and Gray grows increasingly distant from Sabrina because he has no good news to share. During this lonely period, Sabrina befriends Caleb Clarke, a 62-year-old screenwriter from Savannah whose wife, a famous British actress, recently died. They develop a warm, platonic friendship.

Informed by her encounters with both parents, Sabrina reverses her decision about the estate. Her father lived as a hermit; her mother became bitter and empty. Sabrina decides she will not deprive herself the way they did. She finishes her new book, packs her belongings, and flies to London with both dogs. She settles into Brooks Manor, hanging her father's photographs in the library and setting up her writing desk.

After more than a week of silence, Gray sends roses with a note asking to see her. Sabrina assumes he brings bad news and prepares to let him go with dignity. Instead, Gray reveals he signed the final divorce agreement that morning. He gave Matilda the house and a generous settlement and is now free. He produces his mother's antique diamond engagement ring, a gift from Phillip, and places it on Sabrina's finger. They drive to Phillip's house, where he waits with champagne.

Sabrina goes to London to promote her new book on a talk show. Caleb, in the city working on a film, calls to congratulate her on the ring he spotted on her hand. Sabrina reflects that loving Gray and claiming her rightful place in England were the best choices she ever made. Happiness, she has learned, is both a choice and a gift.