Susan Schotz

Filled with parse prose and small, rich observations, This is Happiness is a deeply reflective novel on life and love in Ireland in the 1950s when rural places were being electrified. Through the young eyes of Noe, Williams tells the lasting tales of family, a boarder, and neighbors, winding through the characters’ lives, duties, and love. The ending brings a profound understanding of all that makes life complete. It is both penetrating and lasting, an enormous gem of a short novel.