This Is Happiness

By Niall Williams

Book Overview

The November 2025 Late Show Book Club Pick

"I am such a fan of Niall Williams." -Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of Tom Lake

A profound and enchanting novel set in the rural Irish village of Faha, from bestselling Time of the Child author Niall Williams, about the loves of our lives and the joys of reminiscing.

The rain is stopping. Nobody in the small, forgotten village of Faha remembers when it started; rain on the western seaboard was a condition of living. Now--just as Father Coffey proclaims the coming of electricity--it is stopping. Seventeen-year-old Noel Crowe is standing outside his grandparents' house shortly after the rain has stopped when he encounters Christy for the first time. Though he can't explain it, Noel knows right then: something has changed.

This is the story of all that was to follow: Christy's long-lost love and why he had come to Faha, Noel's own experiences falling in and out of love, and the endlessly postponed arrival of electricity--a development that, once complete, would leave behind a world that had not changed for centuries.

Luminous and otherworldly, and yet anchored with deep-running roots into the earthy and the everyday, This Is Happiness is about stories as the very stuff of life: the ways they make the texture and matter of our world, and the ways they write and rewrite us.

Niall's other novels set in Faha include History of the Rain and Time of the Child, which are both available now

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1635576318
• ISBN13: 9781635576313
• Release Date: August 2021
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

I Loved This Book

Rarely do I come across a book with such lyrical language; or one that has me chuckling at a turn of phrase. I have read this book, listened to it on audiobook and read it again. If you enjoy it then I highly recommend Four Letters of Love as well.

Brilliant

I had no preconceived ideas about this book. Purchased after I read a review online; Niall Williams was unfamiliar to me. But now! Now, I think he’s pretty darn brilliant. Mr. Williams takes a sleepy, gentle village full of salt of the earth people and allows readers to really know them. Their lives on the verge of changing with the introduction of electricity, shifts from uncomplicated with such depth to modern convenience. But oh, the characters. I felt like I’d always known them. Almost every page has a quote worth sharing. This quiet and serene story, that I took time to savor, has won my heart.