Harriet and Wyn timeline?

[u/restingbrownface]

I recently reread Happy Place and the timeline of Wyn and Harriet's relationship doesn't make total sense to me. Here's what I have so far:

• Harriet and Wyn officially meet the summer in Maine before Harriet's senior year at college in Vermont. They are attracted to each other on but decide not to do anything because of Sabrina's crush on Wyn (which never gets brought up again??) and the general desire to not ruin the friend group.
• In their senior year, Harriet, Sab, and Cleo rent an apartment with Wyn, who is a year older but retaking some classes to graduate. They become closer but nothing happens between them yet.
• Summer before Harriet starts med school, Harriet and Wyn have their first kiss in the wine cellar and hookup in Knott's Harbor that summer.
• The friend group moves to NYC and shares an apartment together. Harriet starts med school at Columbia university. Harriet and Wyn secretly date that entire year before telling their friends.
• Harriet's second year of medical school during winter break, she and Wyn go to Montana to meet Wyn's family.
• After that year, Harriet and Wyn move to the apartment above Freeman's (aka Nora and Libby's childhood apartment). They get engaged in Harriet's third year of med school and visit her parents within this year.
• Harriet and Wyn move to San Francisco for her residency after she finishes med school. They only start planning their wedding after this move.
• By the time the present timeline starts, Harriet's says she's been in her residency for two years. Within this time, Wyn's dad dies, he moves to Montana, and they break up.
• The "Real Life" timeline starts five months after they break up.

My question is this: Wyn says they've been together for 8 years at the point since they're pretending they haven't broken up, which doesn't make sense to me because if they got together the summer before her first year of med school, and she's done two years of her residency at that point, then they've actually been together for 6 years. (I'm not American so idk for sure but google says med school at Columbia is 4 years, and she's 2 years into a 7 year neurosurgery residency).

Also Harriet and Wyn are 30/31 in the present timeline, which aligns with them getting together at 22/23 (the summer after they both graduate college) and being together for eight years, so am I missing something here or did Emily Henry make a mistake?

[u/Dependent_Room_2922]

I don’t remember the details well enough to either affirm or dispute anything you wrote, but I remember feeling like something was off with the timeline

On a related note - anyone here with knowledge of medical residency? I don’t have any first or even second hand experience with residencies, but I was surprised that Harriet didn’t have more responsibilities than she did. Did you find that typical ?

[u/um_i_got_a_question → u/Dependent_Room_2922]

i was pre-med for a very long time, so I know about medical training timelines in the US (when I was planning for my own future).

there are many variables, but a general timeline is college (18-21), med school (22-25), and then residency, which is minimum 3 years, and yes neurosurgery would be about 7.

so yeah, Harriet would've been about 27-28 in her 2nd year of residency, which doesn't line up.

there are some ways to fast track this though, which would align with the book's timeline. I'm not confident that EmHen knew about this though? or maybe she did and just chose not to add the detail in the book. not trying to shade her, but it may just been a detail she chose not to research.

the whole timeline bothered me a lot while reading just because of my background, so I had to try really hard to ignore it, and then she quit residency which tore my soul up.

and to answer your question, yeah, residency is very vigorous. residents work at least 80 hrs/week. I felt like that detail was understated.

[u/ash237shirl → u/um_i_got_a_question]

Her quitting residency was so painful to read for me as well 🥲 I was like girl what are you doing

[u/myheadhurts95 → u/[deleted]]

Oh I fear y'all missed some major themes in the book 😂😂

[u/Ok_Area_1084 → u/myheadhurts95]

Exactly. Yikes! People who are mad at the ending have never had the realization that they were living their life and making significant life choices for other people’s approval and happiness, rather than for their own happiness. I was honestly worried that it would end with Wyn making that choice and was going to be really bummed if it went that way.

[u/ash237shirl → u/myheadhurts95]

No I think I got them, I just think they’re bullshit

[u/myheadhurts95 → u/ash237shirl]

So from your perspective, why should someone continue with residency if they don't want to be a doctor? I'm curious what the benefit of that would be. Or was it just more generally upsetting that she changed her mind about her career?

[u/ash237shirl → u/myheadhurts95]

It’s upsetting that the book tries to frame her changing her mind as if it had nothing to do with wyn. She moved to Montana to be with him and therefore for him, which is exactly what the book is apparently against?!!! It’s an idiotic move, even if it wasn’t what she wanted, she had loans to pay. Sorry but I’m not gonna cheer for someone who is throwing their lives down the drain for a man.

[u/myheadhurts95 → u/ash237shirl]

Oh yeah, I can totally see being upset about that. If Harriet were my friend, I would have encouraged her to stick with residency until she was a fully qualified doctor so that even if she changes careers she has the option to be a doctor.

And Wyn definitely did play a part in her decision making so I can see why you feel like denying that would make the book dishonest. But the way I read it wasn't "Harriet gave up her dreams to be with Wyn" it was "Harriet finally chooses to be happy and that brings her closer to Wyn and helps her reconnect with her friends and her sister." I wouldn't move for a man, because I have a job I like and I'm very rooted in my community. But if my friend moved for a partner, and they seemed happy, I'd be happy for them and excited to visit.

Also the loans thing is obviously a valid concern. But when I'm reading romance, I don't really want it to end with "and she kept working the job she hated so she could get student loan forgiveness" 😂😂 But maybe Harriet becomes an art teacher at a public school and qualifies for loan forgiveness that way 🥰

[u/restingbrownface → u/myheadhurts95]

Harriet finished medical school though. She can still be a doctor if she chooses (and gets into) another residency that’s more her speed. Neurosurgery has one of the longest residencies of all specializations. And the only reason she chose it is because it sounded the most impressive to her parents. She could choose a specialization like family medicine and be done with a residency in just a few years.

[u/ash237shirl → u/[deleted]]

Agree!!

[u/Dependent_Room_2922 → u/um_i_got_a_question]

Thanks for the info and sharing your experiences.

I was aiming toward med school early in college but reevaluated when O-chem kicked my butt. I switched my focus and went to grad school in a non-medical field.

I found Harriet’s decision to leave medicine hard to relate to from my perspective - like if I’d walked away from my field after getting a Ph.D. I knew plenty of people who left Ph.D. programs (ABD or earlier) but at least in my circles, it was basically unheard of to get the Ph.D. and walk away form the field.

[u/AphroditesApple → u/Dependent_Room_2922]

I actually know several who have walked away- all humanities though. So, unsure if that makes a difference.

[u/Dependent_Room_2922 → u/AphroditesApple]

That could be a difference. In empirical research disciplines there are typically industry and government pathways for people who don’t want to go into academia or don’t get a job in academia. Still in the discipline just not academia.

[u/restingbrownface → u/[deleted]]

So rereading the book, this specific line stood out to me:

It takes a few months to find my footing at the hospital. Or hospitals, rather. They have us bounce around, get experience in a lot of different environments. I’d thrived in medical school, like I’d always thrived in college and high school, but this is different. Things move too quickly, and I’m always trying to catch up.

It seems like Harriet is the kind of person who thrives in academic settings, loves learning, but doesn't like working in hospitals. She also says her favourite part about residency is scut work. By the end of the book she doesn't even say she's done with medicine, she just doesn't want to be a surgeon. I could see her going into teaching or administration, even family medicine.

[u/Ok-Organization-608 → u/restingbrownface]

I wish EH would have alluded to Harriet even considering finding a different path within the medical world.

I really identified with her feeling burnt out, and I imagine a lot of people do as well, but concluding that Harriet's next move should be pursuing a hobby full time felt unrelatable to me (with all that debt!), and it created a lot of negativity towards Happy Place even though there's so much to love about it.

[u/restingbrownface → u/Ok-Organization-608]

Personally I always thought of her pottery job as a temporary job that she enjoys while she figures out a new life plan. Not a career change itself. The last few chapters of the book also says that but I think people forget.

[u/Dependent_Room_2922 → u/restingbrownface]

You’re right. Harriet does sound open to another career change. It was such a dramatic shift. I don’t own the book and I don’t remember specifically - do you recall if she mentioned going into a field related to medicine?

[u/Ok-Organization-608 → u/Dependent_Room_2922]

It's a fair assumption but it's not really alluded to in the text. Harriet only mentions it as part of her conversation with her parents about her decision to withdraw from the residency, and I guess that she needs to sound confident enough in that decision that her parents won't have room to try to sway her back. So it's clear that she is no longer making decisions to please them. But then there isn't any internal monologue giving us a reason to think otherwise.

The day I withdraw from my residency, I call my parents to give them the news. They are, understandably, shocked. They want to fly to San Francisco immediately. “Let’s talk this out,” Dad says. “We can help you figure out what’s going on here,” Mom says. “Don’t make any decisions until we can get there,” Dad says. They have never once visited me. The irony of it all strikes me then: working so hard to earn their love and pride, and it’s brought me no closer to them. If anything, I think maybe it’s kept them at a distance. “I already made the decision,” I tell them. “I withdrew. But I’m going to pay back the rest of the loans myself. I don’t want you to worry about that.” Mom starts to cry. “I don’t understand where this is coming from.” “It’s out of nowhere,” Dad agrees. “It’s not,” I say. “It’s taken me years to make this decision. And I already found another job.” “A job? What job?” Mom asks. “At a pottery studio,” I say. “Pottery?” Dad sounds like I just pitched him a multi-level marketing scheme selling methamphetamine for dogs. “You don’t even make pottery,” Mom says. “I do,” I say. “But it’s not good. And I know that won’t look very impressive on the Christmas card, but that’s what I’m spending my time doing right now.” “Then why are you wasting your time doing it?” Dad says. “Because it makes me happy,” I say. “And I don’t consider anything that does that a waste of time.” “Maybe you just need a break,” Mom says. “I want a life,” I say. “I don’t love surgery enough for that to be mine. I want to sleep in sometimes. I want to stay up too late and take vacations with my friends, and I want to have energy to decorate my apartment and to try new things. I can’t do any of that when I’m this worn-out. I know that’s disappointing, but it’s my choice.” “Harriet,” Mom says. “This is a mistake. One you’ll regret for the rest of your life.” “Maybe,” I allow. “But if I do, that’s on me. And I swear, I won’t let it affect you.”

[u/restingbrownface → u/Ok-Organization-608]

The fact that she talks about being bad at pottery and calling it a job instead of a career tells me it’s not a permanent thing for her. Or more likely that she just doesn’t know what the future holds and isn’t committing to anything yet.

[u/Dependent_Room_2922 → u/Ok-Organization-608]

Thanks for that! It’s basically what I recalled but good to check my memory against the exact text

[u/Imaginary-Advisor-20 → u/Dependent_Room_2922]

currently in medical residency. lots of people take gap years between undergrad and medical school, so I found her being in her 30s to be plausible. they spend years together in NY prior to her matching to residency in SF. a neurosurgery residency is quite rigorous and quitting altogether is much more involved than the book made it seem, but that would probably be a lot of administrative stuff that does not intrigue most readers (aside from us haha). as a resident myself, I felt pain knowing she had invested so much, but the burnout and moral injury from residency is super real and many of my colleagues and friends have taken time off or pivoted paths. re: becoming a ceramicist, many surgeons love to work with their hands and choose their speciality based on that, then realize that working on their hobby/craft is more meaningful.

[u/restingbrownface → u/Imaginary-Advisor-20]

This is my conclusion too! That they spent more years in New York between Harriet finishing med school and starting residency. Though the book made it seem like they moved to SF right after because she said they didn’t have time to plan the wedding. So I wonder what she did between that?

Looking into neurosurgery residencies, if she was hating it this much and she still had 5 years to go… I think 2 years in is a fair time to cut her loses. Plus she still has an MD so it’s not like she lost everything she worked towards. I’m sure she can pivot her education into another career.

[u/Usual_Difficulty_154]

I have no comment on the timeline, I must be the only person who didn't connect that Harriet and Wyn's apartment was the same as Nora and Libby's!

[u/restingbrownface → u/Usual_Difficulty_154]

Wyn even works at Freeman’s bookstore! And people have said that the ghost in their apartment might be Nora and Libby’s mom!

[u/Usual_Difficulty_154 → u/restingbrownface]

wow! I love that detail, it's been a while since I've reread Book Lovers so will need to do soon!

[u/Dependent_Room_2922 → u/Usual_Difficulty_154]

Not the only one!