"As kids we don't know yet that in the course of our lives, people will slam doors on us more often than we’ll be able to bear. Employers, friends, business or love partners; at some point, someone, somewhere is going to pull the big slam on us and disappear behind a closed door, leaving us on the other side to marinate in our feeling of abandonment.
I’m six years old and my mother is the first one to do it to me."
Citizen of Happy Town is a tribute to the power of resilience. Author Steve Marchand takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster as he recounts the period of his childhood during which he became an orphan.
Through an intense reflection, the author describes the daily life at an orphanage called Ville Joie, or Happy Town, as well as his experiences, at times good but at times shocking, with the different families who took him in on a "trial basis."
To ensure the feel of the story remained true to its original version, Steve Marchand translated the book from French to English himself. The result is overwhelming and ultimately leads the readers to a reflection on their own past and present.
While Citizen of Happy Town is in no way intended as a clinical or educational tool, those who work with children or in the field of adoption would do well to read it, if only to discover what a child can see and feel in difficult situations.