{"title":"Niall Williams","description":"Niall Williams was born in Dublin. He is the author of nine novels, including History of the Rain, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize and Four Letters of Love, which will soon be a major motion picture starring Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter, and Gabriel Byrne. His most recent novel, This Is Happiness was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Book of the Year and longlisted for The Walter Scott Prize. He lives in Kiltumper in County Clare, Ireland.","products":[{"product_id":"this-is-happiness-paperback","title":"This Is Happiness - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTHE WASHINGTON POST\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eREAL SIMPLE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA profound and enchanting new novel from Booker Prize-longlisted author Niall Williams about the loves of our lives and the joys of reminiscing. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eYou don't see rain stop, but you sense it. You sense something has changed in the frequency you've been living and you hear the quietness you thought was silence get quieter still, and you raise your head so your eyes can make sense of what your ears have already told you, which at first is only: \u003c\/i\u003esomething has changed. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe rain is stopping. Nobody in the small, forgotten village of Faha remembers when it started; rain on the western seaboard was a condition of living. Now--just as Father Coffey proclaims the coming of electricity--it is stopping. Seventeen-year-old Noel Crowe is standing outside his grandparents' house shortly after the rain has stopped when he encounters Christy for the first time. Though he can't explain it, Noel knows right then: \u003ci\u003esomething has changed\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis is the story of all that was to follow: Christy's long-lost love and why he had come to Faha, Noel's own experiences falling in and out of love, and the endlessly postponed arrival of electricity--a development that, once complete, would leave behind a world that had not changed for centuries. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eNiall Williams' latest novel is an intricately observed portrait of a community, its idiosyncrasies and its traditions, its paradoxes and its inanities, its failures and its triumphs. Luminous and otherworldly, and yet anchored with deep-running roots into the earthy and the everyday, \u003ci\u003eThis Is Happiness \u003c\/i\u003eis about stories as the very stuff of life: the ways they make the texture and matter of our world, and the ways they write and rewrite us.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50101640691935,"sku":"9781635576313","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/eGxWaEZCZ0xRV1lQTERHWWhVL0VLUT09.webp?v=1781071878"},{"product_id":"john-paperback","title":"John - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA stunning reimagining of the final years in the life of John the Apostle, by the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThis Is Happiness \u003c\/i\u003e(a Late Show with Stephen Colbert Book Club Pick for November 2025).\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAged, frail and blind, John the Apostle lives in exile on the desolate island of Patmos with a small set of his disciples. Together the group has endured their banishment, though fissures are forming within their numbers and even the faithful are plagued with doubts. But when the Roman emperor lifts the banishment of Christians, John and his followers face an even deeper challenge: on their return to Ephesus, they discover a chaotic world of competing religious sects where Christianity is in danger of vanishing. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAmbitious and provocative, \u003ci\u003e John \u003c\/i\u003eis a powerful look at faith and what it might mean to love for a lifetime.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50102223372511,"sku":"9781639738878","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/ByRcqnhq3J9781639738878.webp?v=1781079172"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/niall-williams.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}