Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Happy Land My Rating: 4.6

Nikki hasn’t seen her grandmother in years. So when the elder calls out of the blue with an urgent request for Nikki to visit her in the hills of western North Carolina, Nikki hesitates only for a moment. After years of silence in her family, due to a mysterious estrangement between her mother and grandmother, she’s determined to learn the truth while she still can.

But instead of answers about the recent past, Mother Rita tells Nikki an incredible story of a kingdom on this very mountain, and of her great-great-great grandmother, Luella, who would become its queen.

It sounds like the makings of a fairy tale—royalty among a community of freed people. But the more Nikki learns about the Kingdom of the Happy Land, and the lives of those who dwelled in the ruins she discovers in the woods, the more she realizes how much of her identity and her family’s secrets are wrapped up in these hills. Because this land is their legacy, and it will be up to her to protect it before it, like so much else, is stolen away.

I went into Happy Land knowing nothing about it, and I’m so glad I did—there were rich surprises waiting on every page. The characters, especially Mother Rita, Nikki, and Luella, are vividly drawn and felt real to me. I loved the sense of camaraderie in Happy Land, both in its past and its present, and how it carried through the story.

What truly delighted me was learning how much of this novel is rooted in little-known true events. That layer of authenticity gave the story extra weight, and it’s why I would describe it as historical fiction as much as anything else. It’s a beautifully crafted novel that both entertains and teaches, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.