Listen to a sample
This is Happiness
- Author
- Niall Williams
- Narrator
- Dermot Crowley
- Publisher
- W. F. Howes Ltd
- Publish Date
- 5 September 2019
- Run Time
- 12 hours 27 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Rating
- 5.0 (1 review)
What to expect
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.
User Reviews
Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
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5.0 5.0
Oh now, as Ganga would say, how I will miss Faha and everyone who lived there. This book is pure poetry. Written from the perspective of an old man, Noe, remembering the summer he stayed with his grandparents in their little Irish village when he was 17, it is the distilled essence of what it is to be human, of what is truly important in life, glowing golden in every sentence, full of humour and love and loss and music. The narrator could not be more perfect. Dermot Crowley brings every sentence to life, his Irish accent and voice are perfect for this story, it truly feels like he is Noe, reliving his youth.
I was not aware this was a trilogy, which did not matter in terms of story and enjoyment, as the 3 books seem to rather be companion novels, with each book being a complete narrative unto itself. But I'll definitely listen to "History of the Rain", once it's avaliable on XigXag, and then "Time of the Child".emmay 2026-01-13
Details
- Author
- Niall Williams
- Narrator
- Dermot Crowley
- Duration
- 12 hours 27 minutes
- Release Date
- 5 September 2019
- ISBN
- 9781528877879
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- W. F. Howes Ltd
- Genre
- Fiction: general and literary
- Rating
- 5.0(1 review)
- Narration
- 5.0(1 review)
Synopsis
Change is coming to Faha, a small Irish parish unaltered in a thousand 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.
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