Dear Stranger is a book on the theme of happiness, written by fifty different people, who range from journalists to comedians to mental health professionals to bloggers. Each of them writes a letter to a stranger, whether that’s a generic person or someone they have observed from a distance. For a single topic, there is such an array of different perspectives on happiness contained in this book. Some talk about their battle to find happiness during mental illness. Others talk about finding contentment in whatever emotion we happen to feel at a given time, even if that’s sadness. Whilst other writers bring the motivation to keep going in spite of difficult feelings, hopeful of finding happiness one day. Mind is a charity that I greatly respect, given all that it does to support people with mental illness and to raise awareness of mental health conditions. All the profits from Dear Stranger go to Mind, which is an incentive in itself to purchase the book. What this book doesn’t do is preach at you. With so many insights and differing opinions, a reader isn’t forced into one mind-set or patronised into forcing happiness. Nor is it tailored specifically to people with experience of mental ill health. You could have been bereaved, lost a job or even be the most content of people, and the letters could impact you in some way, if only to broaden your view. Fiona Phillips’ opening letter, written to a son with OCD, brought tears to my eyes, which is a rarity for me when reading. People whom I would describe as successful in the literary world, from Marian Keyes to Caitlin Moran, do much to show depression as an illness rather than a character flaw. It is a hopeful book. It doesn’t make light of the unhappiness many experience, but it does show that it doesn’t always have to be that way. If you’re unwell or unhappy, or if you’re so happy that you wonder how anyone could ever be unhappy, I urge you to pick up this book.