Title: A Small Collection of Happinesses: A tale of loneliness, grumpiness and one extraordinary friendship

Author: Zana Fraillon

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Lothian

Published: 1^st May 2024

Format: Paperback

Pages: 182

Price: $14.99

Synopsis: An unforgettable story of friendship, hope and happiness from renowned Australian writer Zana Fraillon.

Are you ready? Are you listening? Something is about to begin.

When Ada arrives on the day of the Great Summer Storm, it is like the wind had picked her up and blown her in – walking stick and all – and dumped her right at the front gates of number 9 Hawkhurst Lane.

Unfortunately, Ada is not the kind of neighbour Hettie was hoping for. Cranky, impatient and a hater of cats, Ada has no intention of making friends.

But as the summer unfolds, Hettie and Ada discover they have more in common than they think. Could their unlikely friendship be the missing piece they never knew they needed?

With illustrations by Stephen Michael King.

~*~

Welcome to 9 Hawkhurst Lane. It’s the day of a Great Summer Storm, where something is brewing, about to begin. No, it’s not a flying nanny. It’s Ada, who, along with her walking stick, seems to have arrived with the storm. As though the wind had picked her up and plonked her at the front gates of the flats. And so, she moves in. Hettie is excited to have a new neighbour – yet Ada’s prickly shell seems hard to penetrate. And she’s cranky, impatient and hates cats – poor Graffiti!

The novel takes place over a summer as Ada and Hettie get to know each other and make discoveries about life, nature, cats, and where they live, and soon, their seemingly unlikely friendship evolves over the book, as they nurture a seed, rescue a cat, learn about what makes a community, and find ways to keep their community together. This gentle story is about community and friendship, and finding the little things in life that makes us smile. It takes two generations – two very different generations coming together to unite a community. Zana’s latest novel at first feels like it could be an anthology of short stories, but slowly, it became a novel, where everything was its own event yet also connected. I found myself reading this as a novel with vignettes of daily life during summer, but also as a short story anthology, as to me, I could see how both worked. It had a feel of something like Winnie the Pooh, where each adventure is its own thing but still part of a bigger story, and I found this to be a wonderful way of telling the story. Younger readers will be able to read it in a way that makes sense to them, as when I came to the end of a chapter, I wanted to continue but did not feel the anxiety that a chapter with a cliffhanger can give you – it was the perfect compromise of wanting to continue reading but feeling safe to stop if I had to, and this is something I think younger readers might be attracted to if they enjoy gentle and quiet books like this.

Another thing that stood out in this novel was the disparate personalities of Hettie and Ada. This made the story, giving it that crux of conflict that stories need but without it being too high stakes. Instead, the conflict examined their internal worlds, their beliefs, and what they want to do. Ada is determined that a plant will grow from a pip – yet Hettie knows it may not – this little story, which becomes part of the wider story, is told in three parts, and each part builds on the previous ones as well as the main story. Zana has cleverly pulled these together to show how we can be realistic but at the same time, put a little magic into someone’s life, and allow them to believe that the little pip they found grew into something spectacular. Both Hettie and Ada show growth throughout the novel, but tough, old Ada seemed determined to make sure she didn’t change, or at least, admit to changing. It was something that made her endearing because she was sticking to what she knew and trying not to please people. In the end though, I think her growth was the best because it showed we can still be who we are, and change in some ways as Ada did, but without sacrificing her confidence and self-awareness.

This gentle book celebrates joy and friendship within a community and the power of people and communities to come together and save something that is special to them, something that means family, connection, and unity. It shows that there are all sorts of ways to spend a summer, to build a community, and share our interests whilst also giving something to people that they may not expect from people. This unique and quiet story reminds us that we should look for what matters in the small, every day moments, as this can mean more to people than the big moments.