The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell

Review by bookseller, Annie Clay

Neither a memoir nor Danish travel guide, The Year of Living Danishly shares fascinating ideas and beliefs from Danish culture, the best of which we can incorporate into our own lives. When journalist Helen Russell’s husband was offered a job in rural Denmark, the driven magazine editor suddenly found herself questioning the fundamentals of her North London life. Her career as a journalist and editor had been largely connected to familiar aspirations of happiness and ‘having it all’; career, family, an active social life alongside sanity, sobriety and style. Yet Russell was permanently exhausted and ill with stress; not exactly the poster girl for the life her industry claimed was possible. Denmark, supposedly the world’s happiest country, offered the perfect opportunity to take a step back and embrace a new way of life.

After agreeing to experiment with ‘living Danishly’ for a year, Russell and her husband find themselves in Billund, Jutland. The Year of Living Danishly follows them as they discover the secrets of the Danish way of life, some of which contrast hugely with their former life in London. Danes possess wildly contrasting priorities to those in Britain. Although many of us recognise that ‘buying more stuff’ doesn’t bring true happiness, we generally find it hard to practise restraint when faced with new and expensive goods. Yet the Danish seem to be remarkably successful at rejecting ‘solace via spending’. They instead take a pragmatic and admirable approach to material wealth, recognising the hindrances that such accumulation brings: a bigger car simply means a higher tax bill, while a bigger house takes longer to clean.

Yet all is not smooth sailing. Russell and her husband move to Denmark in January, the worst possible time to settle into Danish society on account of ‘hygge’, a concept which defies translation, but refers to a general familial cosiness during the winter months. This Danish hibernation of sorts leaves Russell and her husband bewildered, despite their determination. Russell asks one Dane ‘how can a new arrival get hygge, Danish-style?’, only to be rewarded with the blunt answer, ‘you can’t’. Russell’s work ethic is also soundly rebuffed. The author was used to a world where commitment is typically measured by staying late at work, checking emails at home, and sacrificing free time to the workplace. Even as a freelance writer in Denmark, Russell discovers that these traits are seen as an indication that an employee is incapable of finishing their work in designated hours; instead of sympathy or admiration, they are reminded of the importance of efficiency and time management.

The Year of Living Danishly offers fascinating insights into Danish beliefs and the way they affect the happiness of Danes. The book weaves together Russell’s personal experience of her first year in rural Denmark, harnessing interviews with experts on different aspects of Danish life with sociological and journalistic research. Russell admits that as a journalist she can ‘call up all manner of interesting people under the pretext of research, with the perfect excuse to ask probing questions’. She expertly integrates subsequent discoveries into her narrative, which fit alongside the heart-warming tale of her own integration into Danish society. It is impossible not to be affected by the inherent simplicity of the attitudes that shape the happiness of Danish culture, and after reading this book you will definitely want to adapt some of the ideas for your own life.

The Year of Living Danishly is published by Icon Books, cost is £8.99,