• About
    • About Us
    • What is Eco-fiction?
    • Contributors
    • Tour Guide
    • Copyright, Privacy, and AI
    • More!
    • News
    • Support Us
  • Authors
    • World Eco-fiction Series
    • Indie Corner
    • Dragonfly Library
    • Women Working in Nature and the Arts
    • All Interviews
    • Quotes
  • Books & Database
    • Database
    • Turning the Tide (for kids)
    • Book Recs
    • Reviews
    • Reviews-Youth
  • Submit
  • Games, Film, Music
  • Blog
  • Links and Resources
Dragonfly: An exploration of eco-fiction
  • About
    • About Us
    • What is Eco-fiction?
    • Contributors
    • Tour Guide
    • Copyright, Privacy, and AI
    • More!
    • News
    • Support Us
  • Authors
    • World Eco-fiction Series
    • Indie Corner
    • Dragonfly Library
    • Women Working in Nature and the Arts
    • All Interviews
    • Quotes
  • Books & Database
    • Database
    • Turning the Tide (for kids)
    • Book Recs
    • Reviews
    • Reviews-Youth
  • Submit
  • Games, Film, Music
  • Blog
  • Links and Resources

Happiness, Aminatta Forna

Mary Woodbury

January 12, 2018

In this delicate yet powerful novel of loves lost and new, of past griefs and of the hidden side of a multicultural metropolis, Aminatta Forna asks us to consider the values of the society we live in, our co-existence with one another and all living creatures – and the true nature of happiness.

–Bloomsbury

Goodreads Review

Average Rating:

3.9 rating based on 4,804 ratings (all editions)

ISBN-10: 080212755X
ISBN-13: 9780802127556
Goodreads: 35458040

Author(s):
Aminatta Forna
Publisher:
Published: //

London. A fox makes its way across Waterloo Bridge. The distraction causes two pedestrians to collide--Jean, an American studying the habits of urban foxes, and Attila, a Ghanaian psychiatrist there to deliver a keynote speech. From this chance encounter, Aminatta Forna's unerring powers of observation show how in the midst of the rush of a great city lie numerous moments of connection.

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.
Information from Goodreads.com
  • Libraries
Links from Goodreads.com
 

Happiness Reviews

Reviews from Goodreads.com

Back to GoodReads

Follow

Link Tree

Subscribe to Dragonfly's newsletter



Translate

Selected Interviews

  • Mohammed Ahmad
  • Yaba Badoe
  • R.A. Busby
  • David Brin
  • E.G. Condé
  • Omar El Akkad
  • Helon Habila
  • Julie Janson
  • Oonya Kempadoo
  • Wu Ming-yi
  • Nichole Amber Moss
  • Pola Oloixarac
  • Waubgeshig Rice
  • Jewell Parker Rhodes
  • Pitchaya Sudbanthad
  • Tlotlo Tsamaase
  • Sheree Renée Thomas
  • Jeff VanderMeer
  • Cynthia Zhang
  • Read more...

Support

Check here for how you can help support this site!

Grist's Imagine 2200

To Labor for the Hive, Jamie Liu

Cabbage Koora: A Prognostic Autobiography, Sanjana Sekhar

A trusted .eco domain

Tags: Aminatta Forna

Mary Woodbury

Leave a Comment Cancel

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Geekoscopy Interview
Eco-Genres
DORKS Chat
Extinction Rebellion
Black Lives Matter
Eco-fiction Recs
Eco-weird Interview
Black Lives Matter
A History of Eco-fiction
The Ecological Weird
Rewilding Our Stories: Discord
Social Impact Survey Results
Around the World in 80 Books
Rising Appalachia

Copyright © 2025 — Dragonfly: An exploration of eco-fiction. All Rights Reserved

Designed by WPZOOM