A Good Happy Girl is a poignant, surprising, and immersive novel that delves into the complexities of relationships and the human psyche. We meet Helen, a jittery attorney with a self-destructive streak, who is grappling with the aftermath of a crime of neglect committed by her parents. She has historically coped by compartmentalizing her life—engaging in casual hookups with lesbian couples, caring for her grandmother, and flirting with a young administrative assistant.

Everything changes when Helen encounters Catherine and Katrina, a married lesbian couple whose sexual and emotional intensity begins to unravel the tightly wound fabric of her life. As they prod into Helen's past, they unearth a childhood tragedy she has long been repressing. Facing her father's pleas for help with parole, Helen seizes an opportunity to confront her history and seek answers she has long avoided.

Author Marissa Higgins explores themes of queer domesticity, the effects of incarceration on families, and intergenerational poverty, extending empathy to characters often deprived of it, leading to unsettling and thought-provoking results.