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Happy Family
by
Set in the near future, Happy Family is a darkly humorous tale about the filters and frames we use to shield ourselves from reality, and what might happen should we discard them.
Germaine Kiecke was a foundling, an orphan, brought up by the infamous ‘Motherhood’ in a Belgian orphanage. Now she is a successful art academic who defines herself by her profession and prefers to ...more
Germaine Kiecke was a foundling, an orphan, brought up by the infamous ‘Motherhood’ in a Belgian orphanage. Now she is a successful art academic who defines herself by her profession and prefers to ...more
Paperback
Published
February 6th 2020
by Unbound Digital
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This is the first book I have read by James Ellis and I was not disappointed. I was lucky enough to read Happy Family on the Pigeonhole in 10 staves with other Pigeons. I found the storytelling brilliant and the detailed descriptions of the characters, not only how they look but also their characteristics, help the reader to imagine the situations they get themselves in! I actually laughed out loud on several occasions whilst reading. A very modern storyline. Thank you Pigeonhole and James Ellis
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Refreshingly different; utterly bonkers and my brain is still trying to work out what was going on. Wonderfully poetic descriptive passages throughout which brought me immense pleasure. Some genuinely laugh out loud moments and an array of eccentric characters. Glad I persevered.
I absolutely loved this book. It's quirky and original with some brilliant characters - all of whom are either eccentric, sad or totally bonkers. I admit that the gaming side was tiresome, at times silly - salamanders?? - and often unnecessary, but other than that it's one of my favourite books that I have read with the Pigeonhole. Tom, artist and inventor of the computer game Happy Family, has never quite got over his mother's death and goes to Spain to become a recluse. What's the point in
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Happy Family is set in the near future, where people game via glasses and one augmented reality game in particular is very popular: Happy Family. This game was invented by Tom Hannah, also an artist, who has hidden himself away with his suicidal thoughts in Spain in the middle of nowhere, after the death of his mother. Germaine Kiecke, an art academic, is a huge fan of Tom’s and wants to interview him for her new book. But Tom is guarded by a strange girl and three huge dogs who are named after
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I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book quite like this one. At times it seemed utterly bonkers and I’m still not entirely sure if it was fantasy, reality or a clever merging of the two. That said, I really enjoyed it; the poignancy of the descriptive writing was simply beautiful and the author managed to introduce us to a variety of complex, needy and often unlikeable characters whilst at the same time making us laugh out loud with the absurdity of their actions and speech as well as allowing us to
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One of the most inventive books I have read. Beautiful descriptive writing, intriguing plot, slap stick comedy, pathos and thoughourly bonkers!
Irritating book with too much technical gaming stuff in it
Interesting story line but too much of the book dedicated to a game
Interesting story line but too much of the book dedicated to a game
This was a different read for me. Quite funny and hitech. This book is going to be published in February 2020, I read it in Pigeonhole.
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James has written two novels, The Wrong Story and Happy Family. He has published a number of short stories, a travelogue of his journey through Central America and a monthly column forThe Gudgeon magazine. He designs and delivers tutor-led workshops for fiction writers and is a regular speaker at writers’ events.
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