This Is Happiness

From Booker Prize–longlisted author Niall Williams comes a luminous novel about first loves, lost chances, and the quiet transformations that mark a life.

In the tiny, rain-soaked village of Faha, where nothing ever seems to change, the rain suddenly stops—and with it comes the promise of something new. Electricity is on its way, and so is Christy, an enigmatic stranger with a quiet mission of his own.

For seventeen-year-old Noel Crowe, who has just left the seminary and is unsure of his place in the world, Christy’s arrival marks the beginning of an unforgettable season. As Noel listens to the story of Christy’s long-lost love, he begins to navigate his own heartbreaks and awakenings.

Set in a world on the cusp of modernity, This Is Happiness is a tender, wise, and often wry portrait of a bygone Ireland—a novel about memory, community, and the small, extraordinary moments that define us.