The book Happiness, by British-Sierra Leone author Aminatta Forna, takes us through several continents and centuries to review the state of the human condition and the meaning of happiness.
American-born Jean Turane is a silver-haired biologist separated from her husband and living in London. She works as a garden designer but her real interest is in researching red foxes living in the city. She jogs at night and scours the streets of London in search of these unusual urban dwellers.
Before coming to Britain, Jean studied a population of American coyotes, descendants of a remnant few that survived massive hunting in the 19th century. Her nocturnal habits have earned her the friendship of London’s hotel doormen, street cleaners and migrant workers who feed her information on the whereabouts of the foxes.
While jogging and fox hunting one evening, she accidentally bumps into Attila Asare, a tall psychiatrist from Ghana with fine manners and a taste for good food and music. Attila specialises in war-zone interventions and is in London to speak at a conference. On a personal level, he has suffered a double loss. His wife is deceased and his long-term English lover suffers from Alzheimer’s and no longer recognises him. Furthermore, the daughter of his friends from Ghana has gone missing in London, along with her young son. Attila has been asked to help find them.
Before long, Attila and Joan’s dissimilar lives are drawn together. A subtle love grows between them as they search for search missing people, elusive foxes and answers to their personal dilemmas.
The narrative flips back and forth over several decades, looking at different periods in the lives of Joan and Attila. Like many of Forna’s novels, which investigate subjects of war and historical events, Happiness brushes on a number of global conflicts but without delving deeply into the issues. Attila’s wife is mentioned in brief intervals, which gives the impression of a deeper backstory that left me wanting for more.
Happiness also takes readers into the less glamorous side of London, to the narratives of unspectacular people who live quiet but intriguing lives. Several characters, many of them victims of traumatic experiences, appear and disappear in the story at random. Nevertheless, the supporting cast brings in multiple layers to this book about immigration, love, loss, and suffering.
Even the urban-dwelling foxes and feral green parakeets featured, viewed by many Londoners as pests, have a double meaning. As unwanted city residents, these animals mirror the state of various immigrant personalities presented in the book.
On the title theme, Forna does not obviously define happiness. Instead, through the life experiences of the main and minor characters, the reader is presented with different ways in which people define contentment. To me hope was the most prominent matter.
The pace in the second half of the book slows down, but there are enough loose ends to keep you going to the final page.
Star Rating: 4/5