Sharmi Albrechtsen

An amusing witty memoir packed with happiness research (deciphered), quirky facts and amusing personal vignettes about American Sharmi Albrechtsen’s life in the happiest country in the world: Denmark. Despite having the highest personal tax burden anywhere, a newcomer unfriendly community and grey, gloomy weather nearly all year round, the Danes lead the world in the happiness rankings and she was determined to find out why. The book reveals that the unspoken Laws of Jante are why the Danes have a unique mechanism for ‘keeping it real’ with lowered expectations. While it seems quite straightforward, unlearning American values like materialism and ambition to reach a higher goal of everlasting happiness was a rocky transition. With the help of her Danish friends, thousands of blog fans and Oprah’s Lifeclass, Albrechtsen found the true meaning of happiness and shed her destructive materialistic ways.