This Is Happiness

By: Niall Williams

Narrated by: 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

A pleasure

A pleasure and a comfort A timeless tale of time. A moving take of stillness

A great story from superb narrator.

I loved this book. I've already listened to it several times. It's beautifully written, funny, and poignant. I loved the turns and what seemed like digressions, but aren't really. The language was beautiful, in places rhythmic, alliterative, lyrical. The book's narrator had a wonderful unique voice and the reader was superb at bringing the story to life. A stellar performance. I highly recommend this book, especially, if maybe, you need a pick-me-up. Well worth the time.

A treasure of time

Heart warming capture of love and progress. As electricity lights up a small Irish village, an older gentleman seeks forgiveness from a woman he wronged fifty years ago. The Irish expressions are priceless gems of remembrances for me as a child of two Irish born parents. Delivered with a brogue solidly wraps the literary gift of this book

Magical

A top favorite. I loved this book - the story, the language, the narration, all brilliant. I highly recommend you listen.

Moving, delightful book

Niall Williams brings a profound and warm view of humanity in general and rural Ireland in particular to this great book. The narrator brings it to life and never gets in the way if the story. Listen to it—you’ll be happy you did!

Absolutely captivating and moving

I initially read the book and was then encouraged by friends to listen to it. The reading is spectacular and the language beautiful

Splendidly poetic

The lyric poetry of this book made me go buy it in paper so I could refer back to certain passages, a thing I do rarely. It’s a special book.

a lovely book

a sweet look at life, set in Ireland in the 50s. this author has captured the Irish spirit in prose that sings. I found myself re reading some passages, for the simple beauty of the language. I have given this book to many friends.

If I could give this Audible book 10 stars I would!

‘This Is Happiness’ is by far the most exquisitely narrated book I have ever listened to. The beautiful story is full of everything that life has to offer and I truly never wanted to book to end.

wonderful

this book is loaded with quaint Irish phrases. It was funny the whole way through