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This Is Happiness
- Narrated by: Dermot Crowley
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
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This Is Happiness
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Publisher's Summary
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.
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What listeners say about This Is Happiness
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 06-06-2022
Lovely tale of rural Ireland
Family life in rural Ireland coming to terms with modernisation (motor cars, electricity and the telephone) and all that comes with the resultant turmoil. Very well narrated and a quaint tale.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sydneysider
- 14-03-2024
Loved This!
The turn of phrase in this story is just beautiful. The description of such simple things in life, entertaining. It was so well done, I almost wish I lived in what, on the surface, were much simpler times. The friendship, the view on love and the observations about small town life all through the eyes of a 17 year old made this a story worth listening to.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 03-07-2024
Extraordinary narration
This book is a joy. A very slow beautiful book with possibly the best narration I’ve ever heard. Conjures up a lost world, as well as the agonies and ecstasies of a confused 17 year old book. Thank you Ann Patchett for this wonderful recommendation!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kittica
- 25-07-2024
Marvelous, moving and most enjoyable!
The writing, the story and the humanity of it all
Wonderful sympathy in the reading.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-12-2022
Loved every little thing about this book!
A beautifully written memoir of rural Ireland. I was in awe of the weaving of words that made me laugh and cry aloud and conveyed the essence of traditional rural Irish character. ☘️💛
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Andrea S
- 19-06-2023
Beautiful 😍 I didn't want it to end
I didn't want it to end and I'm hoping there is a sequel. Wonderful story and told in a most unique way.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 24-11-2023
a lovely story
I really enjoyed this book. a wonderful story of the past meeting the future and so beautifully narrated.
The humour, the sadness, the realness of the characters... I was sorry it had to finish.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 26-05-2022
Gentle and wise
A gentle book that is partly a coming of age story, partly about love and forgiveness, partly about tolerance..... and probably much more. It left me with the wisdom that if we notice a small, good moment in our life, we'll notice that that is happiness.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Robintrel
- 18-03-2022
Tender, funny and moving
An old man looks back on his 17 year old self, as he spends a summer in a small village in the care of his grandparents. With humour, insight and compassion he unfolds a tale of discovery - about the nature of love and friendship, the meaning of community, how we measure ‘progress’ and ultimately, the purpose of his own life. There is so much more to this book - I can’t recommend it highly enough!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- deb
- 09-12-2019
Sublimely Ordinary
What a gorgeous book! I loved the sound of the Irish narrator (I do have a thang for the Irish lilt) and perfect for this story. An unusual way with phrases perhaps particular to this author, I’m not sure. I’m certainly going to read more of Niall Williams. I believe there is a prequel to this book.
I have time in abundance to listen & read books so I search out the 14 & 16 hour narratives. Often they are not ‘page turners’, and this book is not in that category. It meanders among the life of the people of Faha following love & death & all that makes a life.
I totally recommend this book.
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