Happiness
Aminatta Forna
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars
3.81
· 16 ratings · 321 pages · Published: 04 Apr 2018
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 hasn't 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 wardens--mainly West African immigrants who work the myriad streets of London--come 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.
Tagged as:
- contemporary 3
- literary fiction 3
- animals 3
- great outdoors 3
- war/big battles 2
- realistic 2
- friendship 2
- family 2
- protagonists of colour 2
- social commentary 2
- on the move 2
- grief 1
- multiple pov 1
- city/urban 1
- psychological 1
- black mc 1
- military, war & conflict 1
- action / adventure 1
- Add topics
- format - reader age
- audiobook 3
- book 1
- adult fiction 1
- content warnings
- mental illness 3