If It Makes You Happy

The opening sections of If It Makes You Happy introduce the structure, primary characters, and central conflicts and stakes of the novel.

Written from main characters Michelle Cadell and Cliff Burke’s alternating first-person points of view, the novel is a friends-to-lovers and opposites-attract romantic comedy. Michelle and Cliff could not be more different. Michelle is a city girl who has temporarily put her life in Seattle on hold to deal with unprecedented family circumstances. She arrives in Copper Run with the idea that her life there is only temporary. She has no plans of settling down in such a quaint town or getting involved with her frustratingly attractive neighbor, Cliff. Meanwhile, Cliff is a small-town boy and family man who is devoted to life in Copper Run. He has lived in Vermont since he was a child and now runs a business and is raising his daughters there, too. While Michelle’s character represents metropolitan ambition, Cliff’s character represents rural charm and community roots. The characters seem unsuited for one another, but their forced proximity (a classic trope of the romance genre) in Copper Run inspires an unlikely connection between them.

The narrative uses Michelle’s and Cliff’s contrasting lives in Copper Run to introduce the Conflict Between Ambition and Rootedness. The different ways that Michelle and Cliff engage with the Vermont town convey their different worldviews and perceptions of the past and future. For Michelle, committing to three months in Copper Run offers a reprieve from fast-paced city life, which is welcome in light of her recent divorce: “When I left Seattle, I intended to disappear completely. Thankfully, Copper Run is in the middle of nowhere, Vermont” (29). However, small-town life proves more challenging than Michelle anticipated. While the town is “all foliage and fences” (30) and the “two-level colonial house” where the inn is located “is immaculate” (31), Michelle feels out of place. The town is too small and the townspeople are too familiar with each other. Her new neighbors immediately get involved in her life and business, making Michelle feel exposed and out of place. She is used to a formal way of being which is more suited to the world of advertising than hospitality. Michelle is thus in conflict with her new environs, which is why she must repeatedly remind herself, “I want to be here” (34). Michelle’s ambitions of being a high-powered business woman feel stunted by the insular predictability of Copper Run.

In contrast, Cliff is a fixture in the town and a pillar of the community. While his ex-wife, Tracy, wants a metropolitan life in New York, Cliff remains attached to his hometown and devoted to his life, business, friends, and family there. He is attracted to Michelle but immediately notices how out of place she is. He gives her “[a] big neighborly welcome” (43) because he believes in small-town connection and wants Michelle to feel that same warmth, even if her stay there is only temporary. The duo’s contrasting character traits are echoed in their contrasting relationships with Copper Run and their dichotomous notions of what happiness entails. At the same time, their differences bring them into subtle communion with each other, inspiring “the start of [their] very weird friendship” (106).

Michelle’s foray into small-town life also establishes the Challenges of Starting Over After Loss. Michelle’s past is defined by heartbreak and disappointment. Her mother recently died and she and her ex-husband, Allen, recently divorced. Both of these losses are layered with emotional complications. Michelle loved her late mother, but they were never as close as Birdie and Sara. When she arrives in Copper Run, Michelle can’t help but feel that she is usurping her sister’s place in the town and overstepping her mother’s dying wishes. (The binder and letter addressed to Sara symbolically represent this dynamic, as neither one was meant for Michelle.) Michelle struggles to grieve her mother in an appropriate manner because her new life in Copper Run is shadowed by Birdie and Sara’s idyllic mother-daughter dynamic. Simultaneously, Michelle is still reeling from her divorce and Allen’s longstanding emotional abuse. Whenever she gets frustrated with the inn, she “hear[s] Allen’s words cycling through my head once more. ‘You deserve to be alone’” (69). Much like Birdie’s death, Allen’s cruelty weighs on Michelle and compromises her ability to pursue a new life for herself. Her potential independence in Copper Run feels more stifling than freeing because of the hurt she has suffered. More alone than ever, Michelle will need friendship, community, and support to embrace her new circumstances.The opening sections of If It Makes You Happy introduce the structure, primary characters, and central conflicts and stakes of the novel.

Written from main characters Michelle Cadell and Cliff Burke’s alternating first-person points of view, the novel is a friends-to-lovers and opposites-attract romantic comedy. Michelle and Cliff could not be more different. Michelle is a city girl who has temporarily put her life in Seattle on hold to deal with unprecedented family circumstances. She arrives in Copper Run with the idea that her life there is only temporary. She has no plans of settling down in such a quaint town or getting involved with her frustratingly attractive neighbor, Cliff. Meanwhile, Cliff is a small-town boy and family man who is devoted to life in Copper Run. He has lived in Vermont since he was a child and now runs a business and is raising his daughters there, too. While Michelle’s character represents metropolitan ambition, Cliff’s character represents rural charm and community roots. The characters seem unsuited for one another, but their forced proximity (a classic trope of the romance genre) in Copper Run inspires an unlikely connection between them.

The narrative uses Michelle’s and Cliff’s contrasting lives in Copper Run to introduce the Conflict Between Ambition and Rootedness. The different ways that Michelle and Cliff engage with the Vermont town convey their different worldviews and perceptions of the past and future. For Michelle, committing to three months in Copper Run offers a reprieve from fast-paced city life, which is welcome in light of her recent divorce: “When I left Seattle, I intended to disappear completely. Thankfully, Copper Run is in the middle of nowhere, Vermont” (29). However, small-town life proves more challenging than Michelle anticipated. While the town is “all foliage and fences” (30) and the “two-level colonial house” where the inn is located “is immaculate” (31), Michelle feels out of place. The town is too small and the townspeople are too familiar with each other. Her new neighbors immediately get involved in her life and business, making Michelle feel exposed and out of place. She is used to a formal way of being which is more suited to the world of advertising than hospitality. Michelle is thus in conflict with her new environs, which is why she must repeatedly remind herself, “I want to be here” (34). Michelle’s ambitions of being a high-powered business woman feel stunted by the insular predictability of Copper Run.

In contrast, Cliff is a fixture in the town and a pillar of the community. While his ex-wife, Tracy, wants a metropolitan life in New York, Cliff remains attached to his hometown and devoted to his life, business, friends, and family there. He is attracted to Michelle but immediately notices how out of place she is. He gives her “[a] big neighborly welcome” (43) because he believes in small-town connection and wants Michelle to feel that same warmth, even if her stay there is only temporary. The duo’s contrasting character traits are echoed in their contrasting relationships with Copper Run and their dichotomous notions of what happiness entails. At the same time, their differences bring them into subtle communion with each other, inspiring “the start of [their] very weird friendship” (106).

Michelle’s foray into small-town life also establishes the Challenges of Starting Over After Loss. Michelle’s past is defined by heartbreak and disappointment. Her mother recently died and she and her ex-husband, Allen, recently divorced. Both of these losses are layered with emotional complications. Michelle loved her late mother, but they were never as close as Birdie and Sara. When she arrives in Copper Run, Michelle can’t help but feel that she is usurping her sister’s place in the town and overstepping her mother’s dying wishes. (The binder and letter addressed to Sara symbolically represent this dynamic, as neither one was meant for Michelle.) Michelle struggles to grieve her mother in an appropriate manner because her new life in Copper Run is shadowed by Birdie and Sara’s idyllic mother-daughter dynamic. Simultaneously, Michelle is still reeling from her divorce and Allen’s longstanding emotional abuse. Whenever she gets frustrated with the inn, she “hear[s] Allen’s words cycling through my head once more. ‘You deserve to be alone’” (69). Much like Birdie’s death, Allen’s cruelty weighs on Michelle and compromises her ability to pursue a new life for herself. Her potential independence in Copper Run feels more stifling than freeing because of the hurt she has suffered. More alone than ever, Michelle will need friendship, community, and support to embrace her new circumstances.