Graphic Novel Review - 'The Happy Shop' by Brittany Long Olsen

'The Happy Shop' is a deceptively simple children's comic, in look, premise, and characterisation.

When I heard it being compared to 'Inside Out', my all-time favourite film, I knew I had to check it out. And indeed, after reading, I can see the why behind the analogy, for 'The Happy Shop' also explores the intricacies of human emotions, and the life experiences connected to those emotions, and why happiness is not the only necessary and important emotion to have. Not all the time, anyway, for no emotion lasts forever. That's not realistic and healthy. Through honest communication and understanding, all feelings and experiences can ultimately lead to happiness and relief. Catharsis is key. Adapting to change, and appreciating what you have, are other messages that 'The Happy Shop' and 'Inside Out' expound.

They're also both about eleven-year-old girls.

Darcy and her mum have just moved from America to England (it's never explicitly stated where they are and where they originally came from, but from the setting's aesthetic, the buildings, the road signs, the mention of fog, the constant rain, the school uniform, and that the currency is pounds (£), it is fairly obvious that fish-out-of-water Darcy is in a quaint English town). She is miserable and feels like she will never fit in. Until, when out for a walk and an errand, she is drawn towards The Happy Shop, owned by the elderly sisters Flora and Frida, where they sell literal jars of happiness. That is, magic jars that capture a person's happy feeling the moment they experience it, in the form of a little glowing orb. Every happy feeling is different, of a different category and description, and The Happy Shop sells each of them to anyone who wants to feel them, whenever they visit the shop. Darcy accidently breaks a jar when she first enters the shop, and is given a job there as a cleaner to pay off what she owes.

It seems she came into The Happy Shop just in time, for business has been slower than ever before in all its generations of being open, and the young girl may inadvertently provide the answer, the progress, the change, needed for Flora and Frida to keep their shop. Maybe people need more than happy feelings?

What unexpected solutions. What unexpected turnabouts. And what an unexpected joy 'The Happy Shop' turned out to be!

So simple is this 140-page comic - it is mostly focused on Darcy, her mum, Flora, Frida, and The Happy Shop; we hardly even see Darcy at school, nor any other kids her age - and yet it isn't. I dare you not to find it heartwarming and satisfying by the end of it. I really like that the lovely, motherly Flora and the grumpy, cranky Frida are both spinster sisters, and absolutely nothing is made of it. (No doubt Darcy will one day inherit the shop). As well as exploring and understanding emotions, 'The Happy Shop' also deals with the issue of homelessness. It is a compassionate, careful and caring book.

Reading this understated amethyst jewel really feels like coming home. To me, it also feels like walking around home, on a quiet spring day, and going into any old little shop. Or in the new witchy/Wiccan shop that opened in a small alley and corner in my hometown.

Such love, and surprises to be found in every corner in 'The Happy Shop'.

And like 'Inside Out', it needs no real antagonist. It is just fine as it is, in analysing its themes of human nature, and emotional development and maturity (though it does contain less conflict and stakes than in 'Inside Out').

A beautiful, illuminating, quiet, cosy, comforting, touching thing. I think this quote from Breena Bard when reviewing it says it best:


'Abounding with empathy and kindness, Olsen's magical tale will warm readers' hearts and expand their understanding of happiness.'


Final Score: 4/5