Happy City

"e;I feel terrible. Although he doesn't say it, I know he had been hoping the whole time that I would explain it all somehow; but I can't explain it, because I don't understand anything."e; These disturbing words, almost a distillation of the entire text, close the novel The Happy City by Elvira Navarro, who featured in Granta's The Best of Young Spanish-language Novelists issue in 2010. The stories of Chi-Huei-a Chinese boy whose family has come to Spain in search of a better life-and his friend Sara-a girl strangely fascinated by a homeless man-comprise two separate yet complementary sections, presenting the reader with a detailed account of their life circumstances and the nuances of their perspectives: the genuine, as-yet untamed voices through which the book's pre-adolescent protagonists negotiate the world around them, their initial astonishment finally turning to frustration as they gaze upon their dehumanized society.

"e;I feel terrible. Although he doesn't say it, I know he had been hoping the whole time that I would explain it all somehow; but I can't explain it, because I don't understand anything."e; These disturbing words, almost a distillation of the entire text, close the novel The Happy City by Elvira Navarro, who featured in Granta's The Best of Young Spanish-language Novelists issue in 2010. The stories of Chi-Huei-a Chinese boy whose family has come to Spain in search of a better life-and his friend Sara-a girl strangely fascinated by a homeless man-comprise two separate yet complementary sections, presenting the reader with a detailed account of their life circumstances and the nuances of their perspectives: the genuine, as-yet untamed voices through which the book's pre-adolescent protagonists negotiate the world around them, their initial astonishment finally turning to frustration as they gaze upon their dehumanized society.