Call number
FIC FOR
Collection
Genres
Publication
Atlantic Monthly Press (2018), 368 pages
Description
A fox makes its way across London's Waterloo Bridge. The distraction causes two pedestrians to collide - Jean, an American studying the habits of urban foxes, and Attila, a Ghanaian psychiatrist there to deliver a keynote speech. In this delicate tale of love and loss, of cruelty and kindness, Aminatta Forna asks us to consider the interconnectedness of lives, our co-existence with one another and all living creatures, and the true nature of happiness.
Media reviews
At its weakest, “Happiness” devolves into a stern lecture, delivered through Attila, arguing that our avoidance of discomfort has become a pathology, one that supports an ever-expanding therapeutic industry. As Attila excoriates our childish pursuit of wrinkle-free lives, Forna even gives him a
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phrase to describe it: “prelapsarian innocence.” In opposition, Forna offers the examples of certain resilient survivors of war zones and of Jean’s foxes, who outwit the humans intent on annihilating them. Yet I found this dichotomy unconvincing. After all, we lack the resources to identify and treat most psychological victims of war; for the most part, they simply vanish into obscurity.
Yet Forna’s finely structured novel powerfully succeeds on a more intimate scale as its humane characters try to navigate scorching everyday cruelties. Pausing to watch immigrant jugglers, Jean finds a bag hidden in the bushes containing worn sneakers and a school exercise book: “Something about it, this pitiful collection of belongings, the ambitions encompassed by the study notes in the exercise book, the men performing for an uninterested public; watching them brought Jean a feeling of pity and strange protectiveness.” Like Jean, we can only guess at the horrors these jugglers have fled, only imagine the terrors of their journey and how much they have endured to come here, to the West, to perform for us, the “uninterested public.” Show Less
In his book about the rise of populist politics, The Road to Somewhere, the rightwing thinker and former Prospect editor David Goodhart diagnosed the deep divide that has emerged in Britain between “somewheres” and “anywheres”. Somewheres feel a deep connection to the (often rural) place in
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which they live, are socially conservative and less well educated. Anywheres are metropolitan liberals, equally at home in Manhattan or Mumbai, university-educated and rootless. Theresa May was describing Anywheres when she said: “If you believe you are a citizen of the world then you are a citizen of nowhere.”
Aminatta Forna’s fourth novel, Happiness, is the story of two Anywheres, Attila and Jean, and offers a profound and convincing riposte to the narrow-mindedness of Goodhart’s thesis. This is a novel about migration, about the long shadows cast by episodes of historical violence, about the many overlapping and interconnected somewheres created by people on the margins, those who fall outside what Goodhart – and many others – mean when they say British society. Show Less
In these few scenes, Forna sets her key characters in motion, connecting them first by chance and ultimately by love. The novel’s title is “Happiness,” after all. But Forna is too subtle and knowing a writer to create a straightforward, let alone inspirational, narrative. The action here may
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revolve around Attila’s search in London for a relative’s runaway child — a pleasingly simple mystery — but the novel has a wider orbit.
Traveling elliptically between past and present, it crosses continents and weaves together lives that intersect years later in London over the course of just 10 days. Each intermittent episode seems to materialize as memories do, with sharp and fragile immediacy. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member cbl_tn
Ghanian psychiatrist Attila is in London to deliver the keynote address at a professional conference. Wildlife researcher Jean is in London to study the urban fox population. A chance meeting on a London bridge develops into a new friendship, and perhaps something more, as the two strangers bond
I love the community that forms in this urban novel. Jean has developed a network of service workers – hotel doormen, street sweepers, and traffic wardens among them – who band together in the common cause of searching for the lost boy. The actions and interactions of these characters challenged me to pay closer attention to my surroundings and the people I encounter on a daily basis.
I am intrigued by the psychological aspects of Forna’s writing. As in The Memory of Love, one of Forna’s main characters is a psychiatrist specializing in post-traumatic stress in the aftermath of war. Forna acknowledges the influence of Boris Cyrulnik’s Resilience in shaping her story. I would love to explore this novel with a reading group. I think it could spark a great conversation about resilience and overcoming past trauma.
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over the search for a missing boy.I love the community that forms in this urban novel. Jean has developed a network of service workers – hotel doormen, street sweepers, and traffic wardens among them – who band together in the common cause of searching for the lost boy. The actions and interactions of these characters challenged me to pay closer attention to my surroundings and the people I encounter on a daily basis.
I am intrigued by the psychological aspects of Forna’s writing. As in The Memory of Love, one of Forna’s main characters is a psychiatrist specializing in post-traumatic stress in the aftermath of war. Forna acknowledges the influence of Boris Cyrulnik’s Resilience in shaping her story. I would love to explore this novel with a reading group. I think it could spark a great conversation about resilience and overcoming past trauma.
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LibraryThing member Castlelass
Happiness is a beautifully written novel about trauma, resilience, cultural differences, coexistence, and the nature of happiness. The author explores these themes through examining conflicts between humans and animals and humans with each other. American wildlife biologist Jean Turane has
The plot revolves around the search for Ama’s son, who runs away when his mother is wrongfully detained for immigration issues. One of the highlights of the story is the network of African and European immigrants, consisting of doormen, security guards, street performers, and traffic wardens, that work together with Attila and Jean to find the boy. Forna’s characters are authentic and memorable. The story is non-linear and includes many flashbacks to provide context for the lives led by Jean and Attila prior to their meeting. There are many threads to track, which can sometimes feel a bit scattered, but they all converge in the end. Attila ultimately realizes something profound about the nature of happiness.
The author’s message is a positive one. She is encouraging people to adapt to change, overcome trauma, embrace the natural environment, and find ways to peacefully coexist. This is the first book I have read by Aminatta Forna. I found it very impressive and look forward to reading more of her work.
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significant experience with animals and the natural world. She has researched coyotes in the US and is now studying urban foxes in London. Attila Asare has considerable experience treating people in war zones, specializing in PTSD. He is in London as a keynote speaker and arrives early to reconnect with his niece, Ama, and a former colleague who suffers from early-onset Alzheimer’s. Jean and Attila meet by literally bumping into each other.The plot revolves around the search for Ama’s son, who runs away when his mother is wrongfully detained for immigration issues. One of the highlights of the story is the network of African and European immigrants, consisting of doormen, security guards, street performers, and traffic wardens, that work together with Attila and Jean to find the boy. Forna’s characters are authentic and memorable. The story is non-linear and includes many flashbacks to provide context for the lives led by Jean and Attila prior to their meeting. There are many threads to track, which can sometimes feel a bit scattered, but they all converge in the end. Attila ultimately realizes something profound about the nature of happiness.
The author’s message is a positive one. She is encouraging people to adapt to change, overcome trauma, embrace the natural environment, and find ways to peacefully coexist. This is the first book I have read by Aminatta Forna. I found it very impressive and look forward to reading more of her work.
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LibraryThing member streamsong
Jean is a wildlife biologist. Her interest are the small predators that make their homes in urban environments. Her previous study concerned urban coyotes in the United States. She’s currently studying foxes in London.
Both studies drew backlash from locals who feared having wildlife in such close
Her new-found career led to a breakdown in her marriage and separation from her now grown son.
And then, following foxes in the middle of the nights, she meets Atilla a psychiatrist from Ghana who is giving a keynote speech in London on the trauma that humans, especially children, endure in the middle of civil war.
Atilla is out in the night, searching for his missing nephew, who has been caught up in a false immigration sweep and living on the London streets. And then there’s Attila’s dear friend and love, lost in a world of Alzheimer’s and now dying.
What is stress? Does all stress lead to trauma? How does one move forward?
Well drawn, complex characters . Stories within stories to draw you onward.
Both studies drew backlash from locals who feared having wildlife in such close
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proximity to their pets and children. Even if Jean can show their fears are greatly exaggerated, the hatred of coyotes and foxes continue.Her new-found career led to a breakdown in her marriage and separation from her now grown son.
And then, following foxes in the middle of the nights, she meets Atilla a psychiatrist from Ghana who is giving a keynote speech in London on the trauma that humans, especially children, endure in the middle of civil war.
Atilla is out in the night, searching for his missing nephew, who has been caught up in a false immigration sweep and living on the London streets. And then there’s Attila’s dear friend and love, lost in a world of Alzheimer’s and now dying.
What is stress? Does all stress lead to trauma? How does one move forward?
Well drawn, complex characters . Stories within stories to draw you onward.
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LibraryThing member pgchuis
Given that my interest in parakeets, coyotes and urban foxes is more or less nil, it is proof of the excellence of this novel that I not only finished it, but enjoyed it very much.
Jean, a scientist from the US, is in London studying urban foxes. Attila, a psychiatrist from Ghana, is in London
This was thought-provoking about (amongst other things) the effects of suffering and whether we in the West spend too much time trying to insulate ourselves from it. I liked the main characters and I think this novel will stay with me for a while.
Jean, a scientist from the US, is in London studying urban foxes. Attila, a psychiatrist from Ghana, is in London
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presenting a paper, checking up on his niece who has gone AWOL, and looking in on his former colleague who has early onset dementia, and for whom Attila carries power of attorney. The two main characters meet up while Jean is fox watching and join forces (together with a host of Africans working in London mainly in hotels and as security guards) to find Attila's great-nephew who runs away. (There is also a lot of stuff about wolves, parakeets, coyotes and foxes).This was thought-provoking about (amongst other things) the effects of suffering and whether we in the West spend too much time trying to insulate ourselves from it. I liked the main characters and I think this novel will stay with me for a while.
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LibraryThing member standhenry
Happiness by Aminatta Forna reads like a character study where even the most minor people get some in-depth background details. The two main characters, Attila and Jean, meet by coincidence and the story goes on to describe them individually as well as how they interact. "Attila was not unhappy, he
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was simply living with a grief that had become his quiet companion." It's a slow mover but stories of the two are interesting enough to keep the reader engaged. First part of the book has a little bit of mystery and the last half has a little romance. The writing style of going back and forth is abrupt and the change of scenes from one paragraph to the next is sometimes disconcerting. The book has many layered themes: loneliness, grief, love, death, hope, as well as coyotes, foxes, and parakeets. "Everything happens for a reason, that was Jean's view, and part of her job was tracing those chains of cause and effect, mapping the interconnectedness of things." There are many dramatic events (missing child, animal murder, death of a friend) yet they are handled in such a quiet way that they too seem to become just another emotion to add to the character study. "'Trauma does not equal destiny.'...the emotional vulnerability of trauma is oftentimes transformed into emotional strength." This is an interesting novel and I recommend it. Show Less
LibraryThing member albertgoldfain
Immersive. Covers a lot of ground using a few very memorable characters. This novel really does end up saying something unique about the nature of happiness, trauma, and the wilderness.
LibraryThing member miss.mesmerized
They meet by accident, but somehow they have known each other forever. Attila, a Ghanaian psychiatrist, has come to London to give a speech at a conference. He is a specialist in post-traumatic stress and has seen the worst the world has to offer. But this is not the only thing he has to do there.
Aminatta Forna’s novel has a title which could hardly fit better: “Happiness”. The whole story is about happiness and the question what you need in life to be happy and what happiness means after all. But maybe it is not happiness that we are looking for, but rather – as one of the characters puts it – hope. Without hope, there is not future, but you can have a whole lot of future without happiness.
Both Jean and Attila are most interesting characters in their very own ways. The author has done a great job in creating them and in opposing them, their view of the world and the way they approach life. They have some similarities, too, their principles and beliefs and the fight for what they believe is the right thing – it is not easily nowadays to find people with such strong convictions.
Yet, what I loved most about the novel were the really poetic ways of unobtrusively talking about life and love in a philosophical way. She captures the fragility of love and our existence in a way that is hard to excel. I really fell for the language in this novel and was waiting eagerly to find more of those passing comments that capture so much truth in this unassuming, shy way:
The reckless open their arms and topple into love, as do dreamers, who fly in their dreams without fear or danger. Those who know that all love must end in loss do not fall but rather cross slowly from the not knowing into the knowing.
It is a bittersweet story, full of love and loss, life and death. And certainly one of the most remarkable novels of this spring.
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First of all, he has to find the daughter of some of his friends who hasn’t called for a couple of days and who, together with her son, seems to be missing. Another thing task waiting for him is to visit Rosie, his former colleague and lover. She is in a home, not aware of the world anymore, waiting for her life to come to an end. While Attila is occupied with the humans around him, the American biologist Jean cares a lot more for the animals. Especially foxes around town. She is fighting a hopeless battle against those who want to kill them all and do not understand that this is not how things work with wild animals. Aminatta Forna’s novel has a title which could hardly fit better: “Happiness”. The whole story is about happiness and the question what you need in life to be happy and what happiness means after all. But maybe it is not happiness that we are looking for, but rather – as one of the characters puts it – hope. Without hope, there is not future, but you can have a whole lot of future without happiness.
Both Jean and Attila are most interesting characters in their very own ways. The author has done a great job in creating them and in opposing them, their view of the world and the way they approach life. They have some similarities, too, their principles and beliefs and the fight for what they believe is the right thing – it is not easily nowadays to find people with such strong convictions.
Yet, what I loved most about the novel were the really poetic ways of unobtrusively talking about life and love in a philosophical way. She captures the fragility of love and our existence in a way that is hard to excel. I really fell for the language in this novel and was waiting eagerly to find more of those passing comments that capture so much truth in this unassuming, shy way:
The reckless open their arms and topple into love, as do dreamers, who fly in their dreams without fear or danger. Those who know that all love must end in loss do not fall but rather cross slowly from the not knowing into the knowing.
It is a bittersweet story, full of love and loss, life and death. And certainly one of the most remarkable novels of this spring.
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LibraryThing member Beamis12
A Quiet and contemplative novel which begins with a chance meeting on the Waterloo bridge brings together two people, both emotionally wounded. Two people, Jean a woman who studies animals in urban areas and Attila, who is an expert in PTSD in refugees. An unusual friendship will develop between
This is a book i should have loved, but didnt, though I did admire the prose and the subjects. I even liked the characters, though my favorites were the doormen who came from various Africa countries. They added a compassionate element that I liked. I'm not sure why this missed the mark for me, whether it was my mood or that I found the plot meandering, but I found myself putting it down and not in a big hurry to pick it back up. I did like the last third more, which is why I rated this the way I did.
ARC from Netgalley.
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the two, and maybe a hope for more. Although their studies differ in theory, in essence they are both studying the behavior of those, whether animal or human, who were forced out of their natural environment. Trying to adapt to a new environment, often facing hostility.This is a book i should have loved, but didnt, though I did admire the prose and the subjects. I even liked the characters, though my favorites were the doormen who came from various Africa countries. They added a compassionate element that I liked. I'm not sure why this missed the mark for me, whether it was my mood or that I found the plot meandering, but I found myself putting it down and not in a big hurry to pick it back up. I did like the last third more, which is why I rated this the way I did.
ARC from Netgalley.
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LibraryThing member charl08
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.
"He looked over the balustrade in both directions and forgot the cold. This view: the eye, the sinuous curve of the river, the Houses of Parliament lit with gold, and on the opposite side amid the dense constellations of lights, St Paul's and the
I've enjoyed Forna's work (especially The Memory of Love) so was really delighted this was an ARC. She creates characters that I want to know, as well as wanting to know what choices they will make. Here, Jean is working in London studying urban foxes, with the help of an unofficial network of workers in unsocial hours jobs who see more of the hidden London in the hours everyone else sleeps.
"She liked to watch those movies. The Day after Tomorrow, less so Mad Max and Waterworld. the Road, Planet of the Apes. Especially Planet of the Apes. The films were a form of penance for what humans had done, had you cheering for the apes and against the humans, not so much failing the Darwin test as screwing up the paper and lobbing it into the trash can."
She remembers her time working on a similar project in North America, tracking coyotes who had made towns their home. Attila is just visiting London, but he remembers studying in the city decades before, as he meets colleagues prior to a keynote speech on PTSD.
These are quite loose threads at the start of the book, and I put it down and got distracted by shiny new ones. When I picked it up, the book made more sense to me, perhaps because I had just read Jenny Erpenbeck. Forna isn't writing about refugees, but there are very similar themes here about why animals and people (have to) move, the choices that are not necessarily choices, and the need to keep asking the difficult questions, rather than generalising about experiences -Forna's acknowledgements include Resilience. In choosing a character who is an expert worker in warzones she also calls on her knowledge of Sierra Leone and the former Yugoslavia, as shown in her earlier writing.
I liked this book a great deal.
"He wondered if one day every feeling in the world would be identified, catalogued and marked for eradication. Was there no human experience that did not merit treatment now?"
"He looked over the balustrade in both directions and forgot the cold. This view: the eye, the sinuous curve of the river, the Houses of Parliament lit with gold, and on the opposite side amid the dense constellations of lights, St Paul's and the
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behemoth towers of the city."I've enjoyed Forna's work (especially The Memory of Love) so was really delighted this was an ARC. She creates characters that I want to know, as well as wanting to know what choices they will make. Here, Jean is working in London studying urban foxes, with the help of an unofficial network of workers in unsocial hours jobs who see more of the hidden London in the hours everyone else sleeps.
"She liked to watch those movies. The Day after Tomorrow, less so Mad Max and Waterworld. the Road, Planet of the Apes. Especially Planet of the Apes. The films were a form of penance for what humans had done, had you cheering for the apes and against the humans, not so much failing the Darwin test as screwing up the paper and lobbing it into the trash can."
She remembers her time working on a similar project in North America, tracking coyotes who had made towns their home. Attila is just visiting London, but he remembers studying in the city decades before, as he meets colleagues prior to a keynote speech on PTSD.
These are quite loose threads at the start of the book, and I put it down and got distracted by shiny new ones. When I picked it up, the book made more sense to me, perhaps because I had just read Jenny Erpenbeck. Forna isn't writing about refugees, but there are very similar themes here about why animals and people (have to) move, the choices that are not necessarily choices, and the need to keep asking the difficult questions, rather than generalising about experiences -Forna's acknowledgements include Resilience. In choosing a character who is an expert worker in warzones she also calls on her knowledge of Sierra Leone and the former Yugoslavia, as shown in her earlier writing.
I liked this book a great deal.
"He wondered if one day every feeling in the world would be identified, catalogued and marked for eradication. Was there no human experience that did not merit treatment now?"
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LibraryThing member DebbieMcCauley
It's not often I cannot be bothered finishing a book, but by page 187 I realised that I was bored and just didn't care about the characters enough to invest any more of my time in them. Needed a good editor to cut the book down by a third. Sorry.
LibraryThing member kakadoo202
I really wanted to like it but hd to give up half way through
LibraryThing member boredgames
really intelligent and complex novel. a bit of a ponderous read at times but marvellously nuanced, assured and moving at others. i skimmed some of the italicised sctions. Attila and Jean are incredibly detailed characters, I believed in the love story between them.
LibraryThing member PennyMck
Happiness is about the unseen residents of our cities - the foxes, coyotes, and parakeets, but also the street sweepers, the doormen, the dishwashers. Do we welcome these immigrants to our cities or reject them? Happiness is about pain and trauma, hope and resilience and community. Highly
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recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member m.belljackson
The human plot is good,
hough readers oddly get hardly anything about what Attica is thinking about Jean until toward the ending.
HAPPINESS would rate Five Stars if the author had not opened with gruesome Animal Cruelty,
a pattern which unfortunately continues throughout the book. A lot got
Silver Man, the Streetwalkers, and all the other West African Workers who helped to find Tano made remarkable reading,
as well, readers get a tour of London Streets highlighted by nature, animals, and birds
and Jean's "Wild Spaces" gardens. Was there a tall wall or fence around her roof top?
When Attica visited Rosie, why didn't he check to see if the bird that flew into the window
was alive - or foreshadowed her death...?
Why did Jean never talk with Attica about the bizarre behavior of the woman she was
creating a garden for? He could have given expert advice that actually could have helped.
hough readers oddly get hardly anything about what Attica is thinking about Jean until toward the ending.
HAPPINESS would rate Five Stars if the author had not opened with gruesome Animal Cruelty,
a pattern which unfortunately continues throughout the book. A lot got
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skipped.Silver Man, the Streetwalkers, and all the other West African Workers who helped to find Tano made remarkable reading,
as well, readers get a tour of London Streets highlighted by nature, animals, and birds
and Jean's "Wild Spaces" gardens. Was there a tall wall or fence around her roof top?
When Attica visited Rosie, why didn't he check to see if the bird that flew into the window
was alive - or foreshadowed her death...?
Why did Jean never talk with Attica about the bizarre behavior of the woman she was
creating a garden for? He could have given expert advice that actually could have helped.
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LibraryThing member Kristelh
Reason read: British author challege
First book by this author for me. I thought she was interesting. Two main characters; Jean and Attila. Attila is a psychiatrist specialists in PTSD. Jean is an American who is studying urban foxes in London. Jean and Attila meet by chance and then they gradually
First book by this author for me. I thought she was interesting. Two main characters; Jean and Attila. Attila is a psychiatrist specialists in PTSD. Jean is an American who is studying urban foxes in London. Jean and Attila meet by chance and then they gradually
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become good friends. Forna's writing is interesting. I enjoyed the wild life that is sprinkled through the novel but in the end, I am not sure that this came to any satisfying conclusion for me. The diagnosis of PTSD is also explored and the over use of it rather than acknowledges that grief, anger, sadness is normal and real and not a diagnosis. So it's a melding of wild life reporting, review of psychiatric diagnosis, and two characters who come together and appreciate each other. Show Less
LibraryThing member ASKelmore
Best for:
People who enjoy sweet, thoughtful books.
In a nutshell:
Two lives collide on the streets of South London.
Worth quoting:
“He wondered if one day every feeling in the world would be identified, cataloged and marked for eradication. Was there no human experience that did not merit treatment
Why I chose it:
It was recommended to me as part of a book spa.
What it left me feeling:
Contemplative
Review:
This is an interesting book that I found more challenging to read than I expected.
The plot: Attila is a psychiatrist originally from Ghana who has traveled around the world to various war zones and other areas filled with trauma, assisting the traumatised. He is in London, where he once lived, for a conference. Jean is a scientist originally from the US who tracks foxes in South London. Their lives intersect when the son of a family friend of Attila’s goes missing after his mother is wrongly detained by immigration authorities.
The book takes place primarily where I live and work, so I recognize so many of the geographic markers, which made the book so vivid for me - I go for runs in the part where Jean is tracking foxes, walk along the street where Attila meets with someone caring for another friend of his. I regularly see foxes on my morning runs, and had a fox den with three pups behind the garden of my first flat here. So in some ways I could see the scenes of the book playing out as clearly as if I were watching them on screen.
The book deals with so many themes - aging, family, community, immigration, prejudice, racism, love, loss, trauma. It looks at the conclusions people jump to, and the pathologizing of human emotions. It explores how people relate to people they love, how the decisions we make can take us far from what we once thought of as home, and how we build new lives.
The book moves through time a lot, but I found it a bit harder to follow in this book than in similar ones. That didn’t make it bad, or wrong, and I can see the thread and the reasoning behind it, but I’m not sure it worked that well for me. That said, it is definitely a book that I will think about for a long while.
Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it
People who enjoy sweet, thoughtful books.
In a nutshell:
Two lives collide on the streets of South London.
Worth quoting:
“He wondered if one day every feeling in the world would be identified, cataloged and marked for eradication. Was there no human experience that did not merit treatment
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now?”Why I chose it:
It was recommended to me as part of a book spa.
What it left me feeling:
Contemplative
Review:
This is an interesting book that I found more challenging to read than I expected.
The plot: Attila is a psychiatrist originally from Ghana who has traveled around the world to various war zones and other areas filled with trauma, assisting the traumatised. He is in London, where he once lived, for a conference. Jean is a scientist originally from the US who tracks foxes in South London. Their lives intersect when the son of a family friend of Attila’s goes missing after his mother is wrongly detained by immigration authorities.
The book takes place primarily where I live and work, so I recognize so many of the geographic markers, which made the book so vivid for me - I go for runs in the part where Jean is tracking foxes, walk along the street where Attila meets with someone caring for another friend of his. I regularly see foxes on my morning runs, and had a fox den with three pups behind the garden of my first flat here. So in some ways I could see the scenes of the book playing out as clearly as if I were watching them on screen.
The book deals with so many themes - aging, family, community, immigration, prejudice, racism, love, loss, trauma. It looks at the conclusions people jump to, and the pathologizing of human emotions. It explores how people relate to people they love, how the decisions we make can take us far from what we once thought of as home, and how we build new lives.
The book moves through time a lot, but I found it a bit harder to follow in this book than in similar ones. That didn’t make it bad, or wrong, and I can see the thread and the reasoning behind it, but I’m not sure it worked that well for me. That said, it is definitely a book that I will think about for a long while.
Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it
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LibraryThing member Andy5185
A quiet meditative read. Beautifully written and full of valuable truths about humanity and the natural world delivered with precision by extraordinarily real-feeling characters. I particularly loved learning more about foxes and coyotes living among us.
LibraryThing member hemlokgang
There were times I thought this novel was very good, but ultimately, it was just okay. It dragged on too slowly and was a bit confusing to follow. It's too bad, because the prose was lovely.
LibraryThing member carole888fort
Thank you to Grove Atlantic, Atlantic Monthly Press and NetGalley for an advance e-copy of Happiness by Aminatta Forna in exchange for an honest review. This is the story of Jean, an American woman studying London's urban population of foxes and Attila, a psychiatrist from Ghana and an expert in
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the field of PTSD, who is in London to deliver a speech on trauma. The two accidentally meet on Waterloo Bridge and their emotional adventures in London are at the center of this novel. Happiness is a jewel of a book. It is lyrical and captivates the reader, even with the most minute of details. It is an elegant read and I look forward to reading more books by Aminatta Forna. Show Less
LibraryThing member froxgirl
This multi-themed novel impressed me with the depth of the characters and their missions. Attila, a psychiatrist from Ghana who has been working around the globe on hostage situations and helping those caught up in violence and war to recover, travels to London to deliver the keynote address at a
Quote: "The punishment meted out to Adam and Eve by their creator for eating the forbidden fruit was not to be cast out of Eden, nor the knowledge of their own nakedness, but the gift of an intelligence great enough to be able to imagine their own deaths, the awful foreknowledge all humans possessed, not only in the moment of it happening but for every day of their lives."
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major conference. Jane, a biologist specializing in wolves and foxes, has left her ex-husband and son back in Western Massachusetts to research the lives of urban foxes in London. Jane literally collides with Attila on Waterloo Bridge as she is following one of her foxes, and they continue to meet for a week, first coincidentally and then purposefully, as they try to manage their strong attraction to each other. When Attila's niece is taken by immigration police and her ten year old son disappears, he, Jane and a legion of genial local African hotel workers assist in the quest. Simultaneously, Attila's research partner Rosie is withering away from dementia as he puzzles through his shifting ideas about PTSD, his area of expertise. Jane is trying to protect her urban foxes as they seem to be initiating threatening and harmful interactions with humans. And all the while, they are gravitating towards each other, despite Attila's heartache for his wife, who had died suddenly, and Jane's concern about her adult son, who seems to be turning away from her. Their week in London alternates with their back stories, and it all flows together, resolving in a satisfying ending (apart from an awkwardly narrated single sexual episode). This is a truly thoughtful work deserving of deliberate, dedicated attention from the reader.Quote: "The punishment meted out to Adam and Eve by their creator for eating the forbidden fruit was not to be cast out of Eden, nor the knowledge of their own nakedness, but the gift of an intelligence great enough to be able to imagine their own deaths, the awful foreknowledge all humans possessed, not only in the moment of it happening but for every day of their lives."
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Awards
BookTube Prize (Finalist — Fiction — 2019)
Europese Literatuurprijs (Longlist — 2019)
Ondaatje Prize (Shortlist — 2019)
NPR: Books We Love (2018)
Pages
368
ISBN
080212755X / 9780802127556