All the Happiness in the World

There are places where time seems to move forward. And there are places where it stands still, holding onto promises, memories, and secrets.

In All the Happiness in the World, the author takes the reader on a journey through northern Paraná in the 1950s and 1960s. At the time, when small towns sprang up among the forests, coffee plantations transformed the landscape, and entire families built their future through hard work, courage, and hope.

In Palmitópolis, a community born of the pioneers’ efforts, life unfolds amid processions, religious festivals, farms, superstitions, dirt roads, and encounters that seem predestined. It is against this backdrop that Mateus and Isabel, two teenagers from the countryside, discover a feeling as deep as it is silent. A love that grows through glances, goodbyes, and dreams interrupted by life’s circumstances.

All around them, unforgettable characters bring the story to life: Tomás, torn between rivalry and friendship; Helena, whose presence changes destinies; Father Müller, attuned to signs that no one else notices; Francisco Cedro, Ana Rosa, João Palmito, Dona Celina, Mr. José Botelho, and so many others who embody the strength, values, and contradictions of a generation that helped shape the history of rural Paraná.

But this is not merely a love story. As the city prospers, a man from afar stirs up old memories and brings to light events that many believed had been buried by time. The past, silent for years, once again demands answers.