Funny Story (novel)

Funny Story

First edition
Author	Emily Henry
Language	English
Genre	Fiction, Romance
Publisher	Berkley Books
Publication date	April 23, 2024
Publication place	United States
ISBN	978-0-593-44128-2

Funny Story is a 2024 novel by American author Emily Henry. The romance novel follows librarian Daphne and Miles, whose exes are dating each other. Magazine Paste says it "has lots of heart but too little mischief".

Funny Story debuted at number one on The New York Times fiction best-seller list and USA Today best-selling booklist, and, as of July 2024, has sold over 800,000 copies in North America.

Plot Summary

Daphne Vincent is a children's librarian who moved to Michigan to live with her fiancé, Peter. After Peter's bachelor party, Peter breaks up with Daphne to be with his longtime friend, Petra. Desperate for a new place to live, Daphne moves in with Miles Nowak, Petra's jilted boyfriend. A heartbroken Daphne plans to move away from Michigan but must wait until after the Read-a-Thon, an all-night fundraiser run by her library, which she is highly passionate about.

One day after work, a despondent Miles reveals to Daphne a letter from Peter and Petra inviting them to their wedding. To get over this, Daphne and Miles go out to drink that night and bond over their situation. The following day, Daphne gets a call from Peter, who reveals that she had responded to the wedding invitation the previous night. Angered by Peter's sympathy, Daphne lies to Peter, telling him she is going to their wedding with her new boyfriend: Miles. Pleased by Daphne's lie, Miles takes a picture of them posing as a couple, which Daphne posts on social media to make Peter and Petra jealous. Once Miles learns of Daphne's tentative plans to move away, he offers to show her around Michigan. Daphne and Miles slowly get to know one another, and despite their differences, they become friends.

Daphne befriends Ashleigh—her tough co-worker she admires—and reveals her fake relationship with Miles to her. Ashleigh takes more pictures of Daphne and Miles as a couple, which Daphne also posts online. One day, while Miles gives Daphne a tour of where he gets his food for his job, they run into Peter. After Peter upsets Daphne by alluding to Miles' troubled past with his family, Daphne hugs and kisses Miles to egg on Peter. Their kiss unintentionally becomes passionate, which leads Daphne to become increasingly attracted to Miles. One night, while watching action-comedy movies together, Daphne and Miles kiss again and confess their attraction to one another. Though they refrain from having sex, Miles makes Daphne climax. They are interrupted by a phone call from Julia, Miles' younger sister, who spontaneously arrived in Michigan from Chicago. Before Miles goes to pick up Julia, he and Daphne agree to keep things platonic between them.

For the next several weeks, Julia stays with Daphne and Miles in their apartment, joining their friend group with Ashleigh. Daphne and Miles continue their weekly trips around Michigan, with Miles eventually taking Daphne to a prom from senior citizens so she can get more volunteers for the Read-a-Thon. During the prom, they run into Peter and Petra and egg them on by kissing and dancing together, but Daphne, realizing her growing feelings towards Miles, spontaneously flees. Miles drives Daphne back to their apartment, but they stop on the way to clear up what happened. Daphne lashes out at Miles for only kissing her to make their ex-partners jealous, but Miles responds by kissing her again with no one else looking. As they get passionate, they admit to their lust for one another but refrain from taking things further when Miles discloses his tendency to panic when things get complicated. Daphne, recognizing she cares too much for Miles, decides to keep Miles as just a friend and internally restrains her desire for him.

When Daphne returns from work one day, she is surprised by the sudden arrival of her father and his new wife, Starfire. To celebrate Daphne's overdue birthday, Daphne's father and Starfire join Miles, Daphne, and Julia on a day at the beach and pay for an expensive dinner party. Daphne is heavily conflicted by her father's presence, as he always tended to abandon her and put her and her mother in second place by preferring to spend his time with other people and events. Miles comforts Daphne in her struggles. Daphne's father and Starfire plan to visit Daphne at work to witness her special readings to the children there, but instead Miles shows up to inform Daphne that they left to spend their time with new friends. Daphne is heartbroken but Miles takes her to his secret favorite beach to lift her spirits. They hold hands on their way home and immediately kiss once they enter their apartment. They finally have sex, after which Daphne asks Miles why so many people abandon her. Miles reassures Daphne, informing her that she brings out everything in other people, and that he, unlike the others, wants that. Daphne and Miles spend the next day making food together and having more sex.

The next Monday morning, while on her way to work, Daphne realizes that in the weekend she spent with Miles, she forgot about her plans to celebrate Ashleigh's birthday by painting Ashleigh's bedroom. Daphne desperately apologizes to Ashleigh and tries to make it up to her with gifts, but she rebuffs her. Miles then doesn't come to pick up Daphne from work, disappearing for a few days to Daphne's great anguish. Daphne unexpectedly gets a call to interview for a new job she applied for earlier, allowing her to live close to her mother. Peter visits Daphne in her apartment and tries to get back together with her, revealing that he and Petra broke up. Daphne rejects Peter, and in retaliation, Peter reveals that Miles went to help out Petra and points out that they will get back together. Daphne finally runs into Miles again one day after work, where he admits to having panicked and gone to help Petra. Daphne blames herself for her feelings toward Miles, but Miles rejects this and confesses he is in love with Daphne. She refuses him, revealing her new job opportunity and fortified plans to leave Michigan. In her sadness, Daphne calls her mother and reveals her father's visit. Daphne questions her pessimistic outlook on life, but her mother consoles her, telling her that the uncomfortable pain of trying to improve things is worth it.

With renewed confidence, Daphne convinces her boss, Harvey, to keep Ashleigh busy when she breaks into her house and paints her bedroom. Ashleigh catches Daphne in the act but hugs her, accepting her apology and apologizing for overreacting. Daphne and Ashleigh repair their friendship, and Daphne spends the next few days with Ashleigh until the Read-a-Thon. Daphne runs into Julia when she goes to pick up some items for the Read-a-Thon, where Julia informs Daphne that thanks to her encouragement, she talked things out with her brother, where she realized that their troubled childhood led Miles to distrust his perceptions of the world. Before the Read-a-Thon begins, Daphne gets a supportive phone call from her father, where she finds out that Miles went missing before because he drove hours away to try to get her father to return back to her. Realizing the truth of Miles' love, Daphne calls her father back and confesses her resentment towards him for being a bad father, but tells him she will call him back when it's a good time for her.

At the Read-a-Thon, Daphne spots several new volunteers, with Miles and Julia among them, enormously touching her. The event goes by quickly, with Daphne resolving several issues, but she is overjoyed to have the support of her new friends there. A few minutes before the Read-a-Thon ends, Ashleigh encourages Daphne to speak with Miles. Daphne and Miles walk the early morning streets together, where Daphne tells Miles that she found out he went to visit her father. Miles professes his continuing love for Daphne and begs her to stay in Michigan with him. Daphne initially appears to rebuff him but clarifies that she plans to move into her own place. She admits to Miles that he means a lot to her, but she doesn't want to build her entire life around him and commit the same mistake she did with Peter. Daphne confesses her love and admiration for Miles, and the two kiss, with Daphne excited for her new future at Michigan. Over a year later, Daphne and Miles move in together to a new place. They host a small party with their friends and family, where Daphne recounts the "funny story" of how she and Miles got together.

Film adaptation

In July 2024, it was reported that Henry would be adapting Funny Story into a script for a feature film, produced by Lyrical Media and Ryder Picture Company. Henry and Lyrical's Jon Rosenberg were also named as executive producers.