Where does true happiness lie?

Happiness by Aminatta Forna

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a beautifully written book, that starts with the chance encounter of two strangers on Waterloo Bridge: a Ghanaian psychiatrist, Dr Attila, in London for a conference, and an American naturalist, Jean, who is conducting a study into the lives of urban foxes.

What follows is a series of significant co-incidences; a search for a missing boy; an exploration of the hidden networks, both human and animal, that connect hidden lives all across the city; a hesitant romance; and a gentle exhumation of those real and precious values that are conducive to real happiness, presented to us polished and glowing amongst all the dross and sludge that constitute the pursuit of power, money, recognition and respectability in Western life.

There is also a gentle critique of our modern obsession with mental health, particularly PTSD. Having spent his professional life dealing with the aftermath of war, terror and tyranny as well as his own share of human suffering, Dr Attila questions the belief that suffering inevitably leads to damage; rather, trauma and suffering can, if properly handled, lead to beneficial change. To quote the final sentences of the penultimate chapter:
"Now you see that all of the weakness is not in them, those who live through the agony, who survive and transform into something else, but in others too. Here." He swept out an arm, to take in the room, the building, the city, and what lay beyond. The whole of it.

A wonderful exploration of the human condition, and a celebration of the true foundations of happiness.



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