The Year of Living Danishly
Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country
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The Year of Living Danishly
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Narrated by:
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Lucy Price-Lewis
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Written by:
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Helen Russell
About this listen
When she was suddenly given the opportunity of a new life in rural Jutland, journalist and archetypal Londoner Helen Russell discovered a startling statistic: the happiest place on earth isn't Disneyland but Denmark, a land often thought of by foreigners as consisting entirely of long, dark winters, cured herring, Lego and pastries. What is the secret to their success? Are happy Danes born or made?
Helen decides there is only one way to find out: she will give herself a year, trying to uncover the formula for Danish happiness. From child care, education, food and interior design to SAD, taxes, sexism and an unfortunate predilection for burning witches, The Year of Living Danishly is a funny, poignant record of a journey that shows us where the Danes get it right, where they get it wrong, and how we might just benefit from living a little more Danishly ourselves.
Helen Russell is a journalist and former editor of MarieClaire.co.uk. She now lives in rural Jutland and works as a Scandinavia correspondent for the Guardian as well as writing a column on Denmark for the Telegraph.
©2015 Helen Russell (P)2015 Audible, LtdYou may also enjoy...
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 74
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 15
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Having spent the last few years in Denmark uncovering the secrets of the happiest country in the world, Helen Russell knows it's time to move back to the UK. She thinks. Maybe. Or maybe that's a terrible idea. Like many of us, she suffers from chronic indecision and a fear of change. So she decides to give herself a year for an experiment: to overhaul every area of her life, learn how to embrace change and become a lean, mean decision-making machine.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting and entertaining
- By stéphanie on 2020-10-30
Written by: Helen Russell
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The Atlas of Happiness
- The Global Secrets of How to Be Happy
- Written by: Helen Russell
- Narrated by: Helen Russell
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 8
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 7
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 7
This charming and entertaining guide offers listeners the chance to learn and be inspired by the "untranslatable" beliefs and unique perspectives on how to live a happier life from countries around the world.
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The Sun Is a Compass
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- Written by: Caroline Van Hemert
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 186
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 158
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 157
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- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 6
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
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Story5 out of 5 stars 5
Helen Russell has researched sadness from the inside out for her entire life. Her earliest memory is of the day her sister died. Her parents divorced soon after, and her mother didn’t receive the help she needed to grieve. Coping with her own emotional turmoil — including struggles with body image and infertility — she’s endured professional and personal setbacks as well as relationships that have imploded in truly spectacular ways. Even the things that brought her the greatest joy — like eventually becoming a parent — are fraught with challenges.
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What the critics say
What listeners say about The Year of Living Danishly
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lacey Stairs
- 2017-12-14
Best book of 2017
The narrator was a perfect fit. This funny heat warming book made me feel like a stranger in a strange place.... And by the end I found my home. Deffinatly worth a listen or read.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- No name
- 2020-12-13
So true.
Being from Denmark my self and now living in Canada I could relate and had lots of laughs.
Absolutely loved the book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mamills
- 2021-03-04
uplifting read
after reading this you will want to move to Denmark or at least start living Danishly where youre at. Makes you look at things differently.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- FrankieBB
- 2020-10-03
Listening to this was hygge
I truly enjoyed listening to this book. I loved the wit. It's informative and entertaining. The narrator is a delight, one of the best I've heard!
I can't move to Denmark, but I'm applying some of the principles to get hygge. Thanks!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Genevieve
- 2020-09-26
Half novel half essay
It’s an interesting line navigated here, between the nice story of a novel and info and reflexion of an essay. There’s a little inbalance toward too much info and stats at some point where I lost interest. But overall it’s a very pleasant book. Almost made me want in Danemark ;)
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Brenda
- 2019-03-18
Fascinating
I loved the story, personal, intimate, and amusing. I would enjoy visiting Denmark now learning about the country's history and advanced social system and it's strong happy prople
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- KH
- 2023-04-13
Engaging, Educational, Entertaining, Honest
Made me want to move to Denmark! Very interesting listen; I was sorry when the book finished. Well read and well written.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sarah
- 2024-01-10
cute, educational & reflective
this is a cute book. I liked the humour interlaced with the educational content about Denmark. It kept my interest all the way through. It’s also makes you stop and reflect what’s important in life. A good calming read. i’d recommend.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2018-09-18
A happy book
This book is happy and peaceful. I enjoyed listening to it a lot! Not only its a privet story of a real family and their move from England to Denmark, it is also story about the way people live and how living in one country or another can affect you. Its a story about how grass might be greener on the other side,but only you can decide to be happy by being grateful about things you have vs things that you don't. Happiness comes to those who look for it.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Vera
- 2019-10-11
Denmark revealed as strange and wonderful
Think I want to be a viking now. I'm always happy to sing for any reason, sneggles sound fabulous and who wouldn't want to go to a street party with a Top Gun theme where they toss out bottles of beer.
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