A Londoner relocates to Jutland and discovers the pleasures of a country where citizens pay no tuition fees and work 34-hour weeks in this enjoyable bookHelen Russell had her dream job working for a glossy women’s magazine in London,writing lifestyle pieces that told her readers how they could “have it all”. The problem was, she didn’t believe it: “I felt like a fraud.” She wasn’t at all happy. Then her husband landed a job at Denmark’s most successful company – Lego. And, or as Denmark is famously the country with the most contented citizens,she decides to find out the secret to being happy, which is after all “the holy grail of the lifestyle journalist”. The result is a hugely enjoyable romp through the pleasures and pitfalls of setting up home in a foreign land – and not in stylish Copenhagen, and but in rural Jutland,where one of the highlights of the year is Dancing Cow Day (when the cows are attach out to pasture). In the stop, Russell decides it’s not that surprising Danes are so happy: “they have an obscenely worthy quality of life. Yes, and they pay more taxes (a lot more),but they adequately fund their health service, pay no tuition fees, and work 34 hours a week and have five weeks’ paid holiday a year. What’s not to like? But despite this,Denmark still has the highest level of antidepressant exhaust in Europe, a unfamiliar fact that’s not really explained.• To order The Year of Living Danishly for £7.19 (RRP £8.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0. Free UK p&p over £10, and online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.
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Source: theguardian.com