Happiness, As Such

The hauntingly beautiful epistolary novel from "a glowing light of modern Italian literature" (New York Times Book Review). "These books snare so much of what is odd and lovely and fleeting in the world. It is work that saved and sustained the writer after unimaginable loss"  (Parul Sehgal, New York Times).

At the heart of Happiness, As Such is an absence - an abyss that pulls everyone to its brink - created by a family's only son, Michele, who has fled from Italy to England to escape the dangers and threats of his radical political ties. This novel is part epistolary: his mother writes letters to him, nagging him; his sister Angelica writes, missing him; so does Mara, his former lover, telling him about the birth of her son who may be his own. 

Left to clean up Michele's mess, his family and friends complain, commiserate, tease, and grieve, struggling valiantly with the small and large calamities of their interconnected lives.

"As a whole, the novel speaks to Ginzburg’s remarkable range as a writer: She could and did write deeply moving works about the Second World War... but she could also write comically. Beneath the currents of humour and wit is a subtle work of insight and feeling."  -  Kirkus Reviews

Natalia Ginzburg's most beloved book in Italy and one of her finest achievements, Happiness, As Such is an original, wise, raw, comic novel that cuts to the bone.