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Happiness

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Happiness

By: Aminatta Forna
Narrated by: Robin Miles
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About this listen

Waterloo Bridge, London. Two strangers collide.

Attila, a Ghanaian psychiatrist, and Jean, an American studying the habits of urban foxes. From this chance encounter in the midst of the rush of a great city, numerous moments of connections span out and interweave, bringing disparate lives together.

Attila has arrived in London with two tasks: to deliver a keynote speech on trauma and to check up on the daughter of friends, his 'niece', Ama, who hasn't called home in a while. It soon emerges that she has been swept up in an immigration crackdown - and now her young son Tano is missing.

When, by chance, Attila bumps into Jean again, she joins him in his search for Tano, mobilising into action the network she has built up, mainly from the many West African immigrants working London's myriad streets, of volunteer fox-spotters: security guards, hotel doormen, traffic wardens. All unite to help and as the search continues, a deepening friendship between Attila and Jean unfolds.

©2018 Aminatta Forna (P)2018 Recorded Books, Inc Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction England Africa

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Critic reviews

"Her prose quietly grips us by the throat and then tightens its hold. It is storytelling at its most taut...A gifted writer." (Independent)

"A fresh, immaculate stylist and an unsparing chronicler of human vices...Profound." (The Times)
All stars
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Will certainly read more from Aminatta Forna. What a pleasure to listen to Robin Miles! Great!

Loved it!

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A lovely gentle listen. I thoroughly enjoyed the slowly emerging depth of this book. Great narration.

Deep, gentle, lovely

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Some very interesting story lines but far too many, making it seem cluttered and disappointing. At the very least cut the Twitter comments!

More editing please!

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it's a slow burn with a powerful message. Wide ranging content in terms of themes, characters, locations and cultures.
Forna is a thinker and she has framed this novel to encapsulate big ideas - what makes us human; explorations of love, war, migration, cultural differences and similarities; connection and community, trauma and suffering - and, as per the title, happiness.

Significant sections of the novel are devoted to animals in the wild - wolves, coyotes, foxes - and parakeets. The concept of hunters and hunted repeats across the book.

Forna's writing is often beautiful and subtle but it is not always easy to remain absorbed in the very fractured narrative.

it's a book worth sticking with for its ultimate message, for the tenderness and compassion evoked and for what it reveals about human nature .

To begin with I found the rather staccato style of the narrator off putting but I grew to feel comfortable with her.

Slow burn but ultimately rewarding

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Simple story weaving in insights into lives of people who are often overlooked. Narrator struggled with British accents.

Wholesome, rich and reassuring.

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I loved this book. Especially if you are a Londoner, you can walk its streets with the author. If you like the rich mix of people that the city provides, or are of African heritage, or care about trees or foxes or immigration rights, all are here. A rich panoply of people and stories held together by the psychological theme of PTSD.

After sad things, happy may come

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The book is beautiful, a story and characters who will stay with me for years. But the narrator was disappointing - accents all over the place, some words mispronouned, etc, etc.

wonderful book, let down a little by the narration

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An refreshingly original novel. Humans as well as animals are protagonists, and they are beautifully drawn. The different love stories are gripping and heartwarming. Forna is an amazing storyteller but also an educator.

Sublime

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A slow burn of a book which holds the attention. You get glimpses of back story to explain the current situation.
Fully formed characters - I could picture them in my head. It gave an interesting take on the ‘underworld’ of London after dark - the street sweeping, traffic wardens ,hotel workers etc and the lovely strength of community within. I feel drawn to the Old Kent Rd. As an animal lover did feel a little concerned about the graphic descriptions of the animals that were killed at different stages- not what I’d expected from reading the back cover!
It was beautifully read but the narrator did struggle with the word pasty (as in Cornish pasty!!!) which made me smile!!

Interesting and unexpected

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Forno tells a complex story of man and beasts and man as beast. Of man living in a world full of love and war. Where duality permeates every aspect of our lives. It was a curious story, intelligently crafted which would sometimes step away from the main story and change the POV and you’re not sure why or where it’s going only to reveal the connection later in the story. Not an easy read. Highly recommend for those who like challenging literature.

A complex storytelling by an intelligent imagination

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