Ripped apart by Portugal’s financial crisis, Daniel’s family is struggling to adjust to circumstances beyond their control. His wife and children move out to live with family hours away, but Daniel believes against all odds that he will find a job and everything will return to normal.
Even as he loses his home, suffers severe damage to his car, and finds himself living in his old, abandoned office building, Daniel fights the realization that things have changed. He’s unable to see what remains among the rubble―friendship, his family’s love, and people’s deep desire to connect. If Daniel can let go of the past and find his true self, he just might save not only himself but also everyone that really matters to him.
Unflinching and honest I flew through this book in less than 5 hours. The beautifully open and honest portrayal of pain, hope, tragedy, shame and foolishness was both disheartening and moving. Great read.
No place on my [book] shelf…. The writing as well as translation of “The Shelf Life of Happiness” are excellent. Often a translated book can mean issues for the reader, awkward lines, whether prose or dialogue, etc. These are not the case at all with this title. If you are less inclined to read a translated work, I can allay your fears about that point, as it is immensely readable. Despite this, the language was truly rough. Due to the harsh circumstances of the novel, it makes sense that some swearing was…
A powerful story of hope and unshakeable faith Our lives are characterise by defining moments which have the power to shape the future either for good or bad. No one is immune. Some events are devastating with far reaching consequences while there are some which impacted us to a lesser degree. In this new book by David Machado, the author follows a thirty-seven years old Daniel who is living in Lisbon, Portugal, with his family. When a devastating economic crisis brought the country to its knees, many people found themselves without work…