Not since Remains of the Day has an author so skillfully revealed the way historys layers are often invisible to all but its participants . . . Gorgeous.John Freeman, Boston Globe on The Hired Man
London. A fox makes its way across Waterloo Bridge. The distraction causes two pedestrians to collideJean, an American studying the habits of urban foxes, and Attila, a Ghanaian psychiatrist there to deliver a keynote speech. From this chance encounter, Aminatta Fornas unerring powers of observation show how in the midst of the rush of a great city lie numerous moments of connection.
Attila has arrived in London with two tasks: to deliver a keynote speech on trauma, as he has done many times before; and to contact the daughter of friends, his niece who hasnt called home in a while. Ama has been swept up in an immigration crackdown, and now her young son Tano is missing.
When, by chance, Attila runs into Jean again, she mobilizes the network of rubbish men she uses as volunteer fox spotters. Security guards, hotel doormen, traffic wardensmainly West African immigrants who work the myriad streets of Londoncome together to help. As the search for Tano continues, a deepening friendship between Attila and Jean unfolds.
Meanwhile a consulting case causes Attila to question the impact of his own ideas on trauma, the values of the society he finds himself in, and a grief of his own. In this delicate tale of love and loss, of cruelty and kindness, 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.
Genre: Literary Fiction
London. A fox makes its way across Waterloo Bridge. The distraction causes two pedestrians to collideJean, an American studying the habits of urban foxes, and Attila, a Ghanaian psychiatrist there to deliver a keynote speech. From this chance encounter, Aminatta Fornas unerring powers of observation show how in the midst of the rush of a great city lie numerous moments of connection.
Attila has arrived in London with two tasks: to deliver a keynote speech on trauma, as he has done many times before; and to contact the daughter of friends, his niece who hasnt called home in a while. Ama has been swept up in an immigration crackdown, and now her young son Tano is missing.
When, by chance, Attila runs into Jean again, she mobilizes the network of rubbish men she uses as volunteer fox spotters. Security guards, hotel doormen, traffic wardensmainly West African immigrants who work the myriad streets of Londoncome together to help. As the search for Tano continues, a deepening friendship between Attila and Jean unfolds.
Meanwhile a consulting case causes Attila to question the impact of his own ideas on trauma, the values of the society he finds himself in, and a grief of his own. In this delicate tale of love and loss, of cruelty and kindness, 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.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Used availability for Aminatta Forna's Happiness
Hardback Editions
April 2018 : UK Hardback
March 2018 : USA Hardback
Paperback Editions
February 2019 : UK Paperback
January 2019 : USA Paperback
June 2018 : UK Paperback

Title: Happiness
Author(s): Aminatta Forna
ISBN: 1-4088-9331-2 / 978-1-4088-9331-9 (UK edition)
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Availability: Amazon AU
Audio Editions
June 2018 : USA Audio CD

Title: Happiness
Author(s): Aminatta Forna
ISBN: 1-66447-427-7 / 978-1-66447-427-7 (USA edition)
Publisher: Recorded Books B
Availability: Amazon AU
April 2018 : USA Audio edition
April 2018 : UK Audio edition
April 2018 : UK Audio CD

Title: Happiness
Author(s): Aminatta Forna
ISBN: 1-5288-1331-6 / 978-1-5288-1331-0 (UK edition)
Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks
Availability: Amazon UK
March 2018 : USA Audio edition
March 2018 : Canada Audio edition
March 2018 : UK Audio edition
Kindle Editions
April 2018 : Australia, UK Kindle edition
March 2018 : USA, Canada Kindle edition