A Handful of Happiness: How a Prickly Creature Softened a Prickly Heart

A feel-good memoir of a man and his hedgehog

Massimo Vacchetta, an Italian veterinarian specializing in large animals, is recently divorced and feeling heartbroken and depressed-until the day that someone brings an orphaned baby hedgehog into his clinic. As the tiny hedgehog cries and whimpers, Massimo immediately understands the extent of the animal's vulnerability and isolation. Recognizing her helplessness and desperation in himself, he connects with her in a way he has never connected wi...