H(A)PPY

Nicola Barker

From Shelf: "Strangest most exceptional (short) novel of the last five years?" Question asked by @SamSamAllingham on Twitter

Imagine a perfect world where everything is known, where everything is open, where there can be no doubt, no hatred, no poverty, no greed. Imagine a System which both nurtures and protects. A Community which nourishes and sustains. An infinite world. A world without sickness, without death. A world without God. Could you be happy there?

*WINNER OF THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE 2017**SHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2018**LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2018*A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEARA TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEARAN INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE YEARFrom the internationally acclaimed, Man Booker-shortlisted Nicola Barker comes a new novel, a post-post apocalyptic story that overflows with pure creative talent.Imagine a perfect world where everything is known, where everything is open, where there can be no doubt, no hatred, no poverty, no greed. Imagine a System which both nurtures and protects. A Community which nourishes and sustains. An infinite world. A world without sickness, without death. A world without God. A world without fear.Could you...might you be happy there?H(A)PPY is a post-post apocalyptic Alice in Wonderland, a story which tells itself and then consumes itself. It's a place where language glows, where words buzz and sparkle and finally implode. It's a novel which twists and writhes with all the terrifying precision of a tiny fish in an Escher lithograph - a book where the mere telling of a story is the end of certainty.