LAMADUBO
A novel of faith, grief and resilience
The House of Happiness by Steve Tiambo is also a novel of spirituality and personal growth. Facing illness, grief and invisible forces, a Cameroonian family leans on prayer, love and friendship to rebuild itself. The book closes as a testimony of hope.
Faith runs through the whole novel, but it is never simple. There is a mother’s unshakeable faith, the doubts of a daughter who wants to believe, the anger of a son who lost his father. The book shows spirituality as it is lived: prayers, rituals and questions with no answer.
It is also about how we grow after a trial: wearing a mask to look strong, then learning to take it off, becoming the carer of a sick parent, passing things on in turn. Many readers find words for their own story in it.
Volumes to read
- The Holy Water — Between Christian prayer, ancestral rituals and raw fear, a whole family fights to save one of its own from an invisible evil.
- My Model — In Yaoundé in January 2000, the return of Uncle Laka, accompanied by a stranger dressed in black, gradually pushes this admired man into silence.
- The Meningioma — She looks back on her parents' story, the SAT association and the confession of her mother, who is convinced she is being persecuted by occult forces. The volume sets faith, fear and medicine against one another around a single question: what should we believe?
- The Mask — He describes the smiling shell he built to survive, then the funeral in the village, where the arrival of Paul and the members of the circle leads to a night of supernatural confrontation.
Frequently asked questions
Is the book scary?
Some supernatural scenes are intense, especially in volumes 2, 3 and 4. But the novel always balances fear with faith, humour and family love.
Do you need to be religious to enjoy it?
No. Faith is at the heart of the story, but the book leaves room for doubt and speaks to anyone who has been through hardship.
Updated on 17 October 2026 · By Steve Tiambo, author