This Is Happiness

De: Niall Williams

Narrado por: Dermot Crowley

Change is coming to Faha, a small Irish parish unaltered in a 1,000 years.

For one thing, the rain is stopping. Nobody remembers when it started; rain on the western seaboard is a condition of living. But now - just as Father Coffey proclaims the coming of the electricity - the rain clouds are lifting.

Seventeen-year-old Noel Crowe is idling in the unexpected sunshine when Christy makes his first entrance into Faha, bringing secrets he needs to atone for. Though he can't explain it, Noel knows right then: something has changed.

As the people of Faha anticipate the endlessly procrastinated advent of the electricity, and Noel navigates his own coming-of-age and his fallings in and out of love, Christy's past gradually comes to light, casting a new glow on a small world.

Harking back to a simpler time, This Is Happiness is a tender portrait of a community - its idiosyncrasies and traditions, its paradoxes and kindnesses, its failures and triumphs - and a coming-of-age tale like no other.

Luminous and lyrical, yet anchored by roots running deep into the earthy and everyday, it is about the power of stories: their invisible currents that run through all we do, writing and rewriting us, and the transforming light that they throw onto our world.

©2019 Niall Williams (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd

I love this book so much.

I ended up reading this book twice on Audible this past year. The story often made me laugh out loud, and also brought tears to my eyes. Really touched my heart. The reader is wonderful. For anyone who is in the latter half of their life, the reflections and wisdom expressed in these pages really hit home. I recommend this book to anyone. The way that Niall Williams describes things is so well crafted that I want to also purchase a written copy. Though the story teller is reflecting on an earlier time in history, his understanding of the human condition is timeless.

Absolutely wonderful❤️❤️❤️

What a beautiful testament to the old days and ways of an Irish village. I had a smile on my face or my hand on my heart throughout the entire book. And, oh my gosh, the narrator, Dermot Crowley is absolutely wonderful! I wish I could hug him I have so fallen in love with this dear man ❤️❤️❤️

Beyond words..spectacular

This is my first review as I am so taken by this book I had to tell the world. What an incredible story. Every word is carefully chosen. The author captures a space and time of pure humanity, love, hope, humor, all of it spoken with passion and authenticity by this wonderful narrator. At moments moving me to tears with the sheer joy of it, at moments making me laugh out loud. I found I had a perpetual smile on my face with every listen. This book is a wonder.

memoir with Irish lilt

beautiful images, reader was excellent. my taste for this kind of memoir is less than some others, but I stayed and listed to the whole of it.

Loved it

A wandering lilting tale. A true pleasure to listen to. Pearls of wisdom mixed with levity. I caught myself smiling and chuckling.

LIFE AS IT IS

There is poetry in Niall Williams' story of a young boy's life in Ireland in the 1950s. William's hero is a young boy, nearing manhood, who grows close to a 60 something adult. At an earlier time of the 60-year-old's life, he jilts a woman on their wedding day. The 60-year-old' wishes for forgiveness from the jilted woman who marries a pharmacist who dies some years after their marriage.

Whether idyllic or real, "This is Happiness" reminds listeners of the difference between life as it is, life as remembered, and life as it ends. William's mythical town of Faha, Ireland is a community where knowing is accompanied by responsibility for care of the living, dying, and dead. There are no secrets. Happiness is within the person who chooses to be happy, regardless of life' events and circumstances.

A long but beautiful story

I loved hearing the history of the electrification of the little town along with such interesting characters.

Storytelling at its best!

How I loved wandering through Faha with such a guide! Profoundly satisfying and a perfect marriage between narrator and tale. Would highly recommend.

Beautiful story

Beautifully written and perfectly narrated. This is a story of life. Pure and simple. Everyone should read.

The descriptions of people, events and places were lovely

I smiled and laughed out loud at some points. The characters were alive in the narration and nothing could have been better than to listen to the story in the sound and accent of an Irish voice, just like the author must have been hearing in his own mind when writing it. I enjoyed this very much.