Happiness, As Such

Description

'Dear Michele, she wrote, I'm writing principally to tell you that your father is sick. Go visit him. He says he hasn t seen you for days.' Michele is the beloved only son of a large, dysfunctional family in 1970s Italy. Headstrong and independent, he has disappeared to London without explanation. Back in Italy, his father lies dying. Michele's departure sets forth a series of events that will bring together everyone in his life - his mother Adriana, living in the countryside with her two twin daughters Bebetta and Nannetta, his long-suffering sister Angelica, his loyal and sad friend Osvaldo, and Mara, a young woman who is prone to showing up on doorsteps with a baby that may or may not be Michele's. The story of the Prodigal Son turned on its head, Happiness, As Such is a short, absurdly funny novel-in-letters about complicated families and missed connections.

Natalia Ginzburg (1916-1991) was born in Palermo, Sicily. She wrote dozens of books including the essay collection The Little Virtues, and the novels All Our Yesterdays, Happiness, As Such and the Strega Prize-winning Family Lexicon. She was involved in political activism throughout her life and served in the Italian parliament from 1983 to 1987.