Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
ARC from PRH Audio, Berkley Pub and Netgalley for an honest review
Book Blurb:
In the hills of Appalachia, there once existed a land ruled by a king and queen. Inspired by memories of African kingdoms, a community of formerly enslaved men and women grasped freedom on mountain land they owned. But freedom doesn’t always last forever . . .Today, after years of silence, Nikki has been summoned to North Carolina by her estranged grandmother. But instead of revealing answers about their recent past, Mother Rita tells Nikki a shocking story about her great-great-great grandmother, Queen Luella, and the very land they stand on. Land Mother Rita insists must be protected at all costs.
As Nikki learns about the Kingdom of the Happy Land, she comes to realise how much of her identity is rooted in this family land, and how much they stand to lose if it, like so much else, is taken from them. It’s time to reclaim what’s theirs
My Review: 3.75 stars
Happy Land by Dolen Perkins Valdez is a book I was intrigued about due to the idea of Happy Land and that it was based on the author’s real ancestors.
Crazily enough, there was an African Kingdom within the states, which was ruled by both a man and woman who created and owned their titles. This is why I love reading; I’m always learning. It was told in two different timelines by two different characters, one from a character called Nikki Lovejoy-Berry, a current day woman called to her grandmother’s home to help her with a land settlement problems and the other, Queen Luella, her great-great-great-grandmother who helped build a self-governing Black kingdom during the aftermath of slavery.
Through this book I learned a lot about land laws and massive amount of land that was stolen from freed slaves. It was heartbreaking. There were many times I was in awe at Queen Luella and her love triangle between two brothers, one as a husband and the other his brother. Can you imagine the scandal that would be all over the internet in current times?
There were parts of the story that had me riveted and other times where I felt the plot was dragging a bit. I was more intrigued and invested by the past storyline than I was with the modern-day tale. I know it served as a means to get the reader to understand the history of Happy Land, but still I preferred Luella’s tale.
You’ll find themes of resilience, family loyalty, reclamation, the land, and generational legacy.
Quotes I liked:
This place wasn’t just our home. It was our refuge.”
“I’m just as busy as you, and I still find time to read nearly fifty books a year.”
“This must be how love feels, I told myself. Comfortable. Respectful.”
“Voting was what it meant to be a citizen, a generational wish passed down from our parents and grandparents. It had been the laws that had enslaved us in the first place. Only way to change the law was to vote.”
