Helen Russell – författare

We live in an age when reality TV shows climax in a tearful finale. But feeling sad – genuinely sad – is still taboo. Yet, sadness happens to us all, sometimes in heartbreakingly awful ways. If we don’t know how to be sad, it can be isolating for those experiencing it and baffling for those trying to help others through dark times. Today, most of us know intellectually that ‘sad’ is normal. But we’re not always brilliant at allowing for it, in practice. Sadness is going to happen, so we might as well know how to ‘do it’ right. And it’s time to start facing our problems and talking about them. Positive psychology may have become more accepted in mainstream culture, but rates of depression have continued to rise.We’re trying so hard to be happy. But studies show that we could all benefit from learning the art of sadness and how to handle it, well.We cannot avoid sadness so we might as well learn to handle it. Helen Russell, while researching two previous books on happiness, found that today most of us are terrified of sadness. Many of us are so phobic to averse to negative emotions that we don’t recognise them.

‘In any human life there are going to be periods of unhappiness. Learning how to be sad is a natural first step in how to be happier’ Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute Helen Russell is an expert on the pursuit of happiness. In How to Be Sad she combines her powerful personal story with surprising research and warm advice to reveal the secret of finding joy: allowing sadness to enrich your life and relationships.Timely and essential, this book is about how we can better look after ourselves and each other, simply by getting smarter about sadness.

'Top-notch’Good Housekeeping – BEST PARENTING BOOKS 'Helen has a way to take big ideas and convey them with warmth and wisdom' Dr Rangan Chatterjee 'A well researched study injected with humour and humanity' Mail on Sunday *Featured on The Happiness Lab with Dr Laurie Santos* What do Vikings know about raising children? Turns out, quite a lot… After a decade of living in Denmark and raising a family there, Helen Russell noticed that Nordic children are different. They eat differently. They learn differently. They run, jump and climb out in nature for hours a day, even though the weather is terrible and it's dark October to March. And then they grow up to be some of the happiest adults on the planet. Her question was: how?In How to Raise a Viking, Russell takes a deep dive into the parenting culture of Denmark and the other Nordic nations, from parental leave policies to school structure, screen time, and the surprising customs that lead to happy, well-adjusted humans. This fascinating peek behind the cultural curtain allows readers a glimpse of another world, where babies sleep outside in their prams up to -20°C and pre-schoolers wield axes.Refreshingly funny and unfailingly optimistic about the new generation of humans growing up in the world right now, this is a heart-warming love letter to Russell’s adopted homeland and proof that we could all do with a bit more Viking in our lives.'Ditch all the other parenting books. This is the one – funny, helpful, doable and not guilt-inducing. Makes me want to have kids all over again and try it this way' Matt Rudd'I highly recommend' Mariella Frostrup'Helen’s brilliant writing is having a dangerously powerful impact on me which is leading me to an inevitable emigration to Scandinavia' Rob Beckett'How to Raise a Viking contains much of interest and succeeds in its primary purpose: making us think about how we should engage with our children and help them to realise their potential, and what we must prioritise to do so' Sunday Times‘Helen Russell explains from experience how Nordic countries put a strong emphasis on resilience, outdoor play, independence, egalitarianism and a balanced approach to education and family life. "Viking parenting" is about raising children to be self-assured, capable and connected to the natural world’ The Week

'Top-notch’Good Housekeeping – BEST PARENTING BOOKS 'Helen has a way to take big ideas and convey them with warmth and wisdom' Dr Rangan Chatterjee 'A well researched study injected with humour and humanity' Mail on Sunday *Featured on The Happiness Lab with Dr Laurie Santos* After a decade of living in Denmark and raising a family there, Helen Russell noticed that Nordic children are different. They eat differently. They learn differently. They run, jump and climb out in nature for hours a day, even though the weather is terrible and it's dark October to March. And then they grow up to be some of the happiest adults on the planet. Her question was: how?In How to Raise a Viking, Russell takes a deep dive into the parenting culture of Denmark and the other Nordic nations, from parental leave policies to school structure, screen time, and the surprising customs that lead to happy, well-adjusted humans. This fascinating peek behind the cultural curtain allows readers a glimpse of another world, where babies sleep outside in their prams up to -20°C and pre-schoolers wield axes.Refreshingly funny and unfailingly optimistic about the new generation of humans growing up in the world right now, this is a heart-warming love letter to Russell’s adopted homeland and proof that we could all do with a bit more Viking in our lives.'Ditch all the other parenting books. This is the one – funny, helpful, doable and not guilt-inducing. Makes me want to have kids all over again and try it this way' Matt Rudd'I highly recommend' Mariella Frostrup'Helen’s brilliant writing is having a dangerously powerful impact on me which is leading me to an inevitable emigration to Scandinavia' Rob Beckett'How to Raise a Viking contains much of interest and succeeds in its primary purpose: making us think about how we should engage with our children and help them to realise their potential, and what we must prioritise to do so' Sunday Times‘Helen Russell explains from experience how Nordic countries put a strong emphasis on resilience, outdoor play, independence, egalitarianism and a balanced approach to education and family life. "Viking parenting" is about raising children to be self-assured, capable and connected to the natural world’ The Week

'SO witty, so entertaining, yet so moving. Countless women will identify with Laura Clark. I loved it so much!' MARIAN KEYES'Brilliantly entertaining . . . surprisingly moving 'JENNIE GODFREY'If you're a woman with only so many f*cks left to give, this book is for you' CALLY BEATON'A book with a big, generous heart' BOBBY PALMER -------Who is Laura Clark?To her colleagues, she's an invisible forty-something HR manager, emailing about lift repairs and quietly stocking the meeting-room snacks.To her golf-obsessed husband and selfie-obsessed teenage daughter, she's the reliable constant - dinner on the table, mess cleaned away, needs met without thanks.To her elderly mother, she's a patient ear for endless complaints.Laura Clark is the woman everyone relies on. And barely anyone sees.But one day Laura puts on her 'out of office' message - and doesn't come back. And soon, everyone's formerly ordered lives quickly begin to descend into all-out chaos.Where has Laura gone? Has something terrible happened to her? Or has she - unthinkably - decided to finally give her own life the finger?To find out, the people in her life must realise that, maybe, they never really knew Laura Clark at all . . .'Funny, original and hugely relatable . . . An empowering story for any woman who's ever felt invisible - or is simply sick of everyone's s**t!' FIONA GIBSON'Intriguing, relatable and utterly fabulous! was completely hooked from the very first page to the last' HELGA JENSEN'A wonderfully relatable book that had me laughing, empathising, commiserating and, ultimately, cheering for Laura' SHEILA McCLURE'As blissful as eating a Twix in the sunshine on the way home from work, this is a gloriously funny manifesto for why we should never take the Laura Clarks of this world for granted!' JULIE MA'Helen Russell's exquisite storytelling reveals the layers of Laura's life gently like the unfurling of a peony in summer. This book is laugh out loud funny and deeply poignant, and I loved every second of it.' JENNI BAYLISSREADERS LOVE LAURA CLARK:'Funny, wise and everything in between, I absolutely loved it' ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'So relatable and a little bit chaotic . . . can't recommend it enough' ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'The ending was so satisfying' ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Helen Russell has hit it out of the park' ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Laugh-out-loud funny' ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Once I started reading, I couldn't stop' ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'SO witty, so entertaining, yet so moving. Countless women will identify with Laura Clark. I loved it so much!' MARIAN KEYES'Brilliantly entertaining . . . surprisingly moving 'JENNIE GODFREY'If you're a woman with only so many f*cks left to give, this book is for you' CALLY BEATON'A book with a big, generous heart' BOBBY PALMER-------Who is Laura Clark?To her colleagues, she's an invisible forty-something HR manager, emailing about lift repairs and quietly stocking the meeting-room snacks.To her golf-obsessed husband and selfie-obsessed teenage daughter, she's the reliable constant - dinner on the table, mess cleaned away, needs met without thanks.To her elderly mother, she's a patient ear for endless complaints.Laura Clark is the woman everyone relies on. And barely anyone sees.But one day Laura puts on her 'out of office' message - and doesn't come back. And soon, everyone's formerly ordered lives quickly begin to descend into all-out chaos.Where has Laura gone? Has something terrible happened to her? Or has she - unthinkably - decided to finally give her own life the finger?To find out, the people in her life must realise that, maybe, they never really knew Laura Clark at all . . .'Funny, original and hugely relatable . . . An empowering story for any woman who's ever felt invisible - or is simply sick of everyone's s**t!' FIONA GIBSON'Intriguing, relatable and utterly fabulous! was completely hooked from the very first page to the last' HELGA JENSEN'A wonderfully relatable book that had me laughing, empathising, commiserating and, ultimately, cheering for Laura' SHEILA McCLUREREADERS LOVE LAURA CLARK:'Funny, wise and everything in between, I absolutely loved it' ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'So relatable and a little bit chaotic . . . can't recommend it enough'⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'The ending was so satisfying' ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Helen Russell has hit it out of the park' ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Laugh-out-loud funny' ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Once I started reading, I couldn't stop' ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Frances Ruane, Director, Economic and Social Research Institute Irish and international scholars continue to be curious about Ireland’s exceptional economic success since the early 1990s. While growth rates peaked at the turn of the millennium, they have since continued at levels that are high by any current international or historical Irish measures. Despite differences of view among Irish economists and policymakers on the relative importance of the factors that have driven growth, there is widespread agreement that the process of globalisation has contributed to Ireland’s economic development. In this context, it is helpful to recognise that globalisation has created huge changes in most developed and developing countries and has been associated, inter alia, with reductions in global income disparity but increased income disparity within individual countries. This book reflects on how, from a social perspective, Ireland has prospered over the past decade. In that period we have effectively moved from being a semi-developed to being a developed economy. While the book’s main focus is on the social changes induced by economic growth, there is also recognition that social change has facilitated economic growth. Although many would regard the past decade as a period when economic and social elements have combined in a virtuous cycle, there is a lingering question as to the extent to which we have better lives now that we are economically ‘better off’.

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE YEAR OF LIVING DANISHLY - How to make big decisions, be more resilient, and change your life for good. 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. From how to cope with changing work lives and evolving relationships, to how we feel about our bodies, money and well-being, Helen investigates the benefits of new beginnings, the secrets of decisive people and what makes changes last - and uncovers the practical life lessons we can all use thrive when change is afoot - and inject some freshness and magic if it's not.

* NOW WITH A NEW CHAPTER *'A hugely enjoyable romp through the pleasures and pitfalls of setting up home in a foreign land.'- GuardianGiven the opportunity of a new life in rural Jutland, Helen Russell discovered a startling statistic: Denmark, land of long dark winters, cured herring, Lego and pastries, was the happiest place on earth.Keen to know their secrets, Helen gave herself a year to uncover the formula for Danish happiness.From childcare, education, food and interior design to SAD and taxes, The Year of Living Danishly records a funny, poignant journey, showing us what the Danes get right, what they get wrong, and how we might all live a little more Danishly ourselves.In this new edition, six years on Helen reveals how her life and family have changed, and explores how Denmark, too - or. her understanding of it - has shifted. It's a messy and flawed place, she concludes - but can still be a model for a better way of living.

This book explores the development of the discipline of Criminology on the island of Ireland, through conversations with leading criminologists.

"Året att leva danskt" är en memoar av Helen Russell som beskriver hennes upplevelser av att leva i Danmark med sin man under ett år. Genom intervjuer med lokalbefolkningen, forskning och personliga erfarenheter utforskar hon hemligheterna bakom Danmarks ranking som världens lyckligaste land. Russell tar upp olika ämnen som arbete-livsbalance, sjukvård, utbildning och begreppet hygge, eller mysighet. Denna bok erbjuder en smart och insiktsfull syn på den danska kulturen och det danska sättet att leva.