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In this stunning collection of stories, Cressida Connolly brings forth a group of disparate characters-emotionally damaged men, women, boys, and girls struggling with psychological growing pains-each of whom is able to clearly articulate their life's losses and disappointments as well as profound moments of grief and love.
One woman, snatched from her pram as an infant and later returned to her mother, suffered intense hurt and anger that continue to influence both mother and child long after they are reunited. A young boy who had always aspired to the priesthood witnesses his father's betrayal of his mother, and recognizes in that moment a hard lesson-that his parents, the world, and even God are less than perfect. A fatigued mother of three awakens to her yearning for the open spaces of Canada and a divorce from her husband. A young girl takes on the guilt of her sister's death, and a corpulent child who feels empty on the inside fills his void with food. All of them are in search of themselves and larger truths. Connolly slips effortlessly into each character's voice and weaves seemingly simple stories that pack a huge wallop.
From the Publisher
Even happy days come to an end. In this remarkable collection, Cressida Connolly explores the lives of children and young people who find themselves split in two. A conversation on a trip to the zoo heralds the end of a family; a boy watches his father fold Aunt Rose into his arms and loses his vocation; a young girl grows jealous of the attention paid to her dying sister.
Examining familiar emotions--love, loss, jealousy, loneliness--with a fresh eye, The Happiest Days is an exciting, original, startling debut.
Newsday
[Connolly] makes sad, wise sense of the inner lives of children in the process of being robbed of their illusions about the world...Connolly catches them brilliantly...she takes the transition seriously, proving herself to be a breed apart from the garden-variety grown-up.
San Diego Union Tribune
Connolly writes with intensity and insight.
Marie Claire
Poignant reminders of adolescent traumas...these stories are unmissable.
US Weekly
A touching debut.
Publishers Weekly
The pitfalls of narrating fiction from a child's perspective are notorious--it is nearly impossible to avoid succumbing to sentimentality or knowingness--but Connolly nimbly channels children's real voices in her affecting debut collection of nine short stories. A young boy's loss of na ve religious faith is ably captured in "How I Lost My Vocation," as is a young girl's fragile play life with her terminally ill sister in "Granville Hill." In one of the stories told from the alternating perspectives of two characters--a Connolly trademark--a juvenile car thief living in a foster home clashes with the family's preteen daughter ("Paradise Drive"). Although the best of Connolly's tales involve a child or adolescent, some feature adults on their own, though conventional issues like midlife crises and divorce aren't quite as freshly treated as childhood experiences. In "Canada," a young mother's trip to the zoo with her husband and children inspires her to imagine how she might escape domestic responsibilities. More exotically, "The Bounce" deals with a lady lion tamer's balancing act between her circus life and an affair with a married Irish gentleman farmer. Praised by Kazuo Ishiguro and Helen Dunmore upon their publication in Britain, these affectionate, gracefully styled stories herald the arrival on the literary scene of a talented writer in perfect command of her distinctive prose. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
KLIATT
The title of this collection of short stories belies the trauma, desperation, and sadness experienced by their various protagonists. Each story captures that moment in childhood when the protagonist's life is forever changed. Whether it is a young man spying his father embracing his mother's sister, a young girl witnessing the sexual abuse of her best friend's sister, or a surviving sister realizing that she was her mother's favorite child after all, we know that these characters' views of the world have been transformed: their lives change course because they finally see and understand the world around them. With this enlightenment comes disillusionment. It is at that moment when truth replaces naiveté and the child becomes an adult. Connolly writes beautifully. In the space of several pages she lets events unfold while depicting believable characters. Her straightforward and matter-of-fact style allows her to do this without being either maudlin or trite. One caution is that since she is British some of the vocabulary is difficult for Americans. These stories, which focus on complex and mature subject matter, are more suitable for older YAs (i.e., high school and older.) Category: Short Stories. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 1999, St. Martin's, Picador, 185p., Ages 16 to adult. Reviewer: Debra Mitts Smith; YA Libn., Glenview P.L., Glenview, IL
Kirkus Reviews
Connolly debuts with a collection of smooth, alluring, and satisfying stories that are very much at home in the traditional mode, perhaps appropriately for a daughter of a great English journalist, critic, and author, the late Cyril Connolly.
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