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There are currently 16 member reviews
for Happy Land
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Debra F. (Cudjoe Key, FL)
The Kingdom
It is amazing how little we know of the history of certain people & places. I never knew there was a 'Kingdom of Happy Land" up in the North Carolina mountains with an honest to goodness King & Queen.
This story is about resilience & family & everything people can and will do for freedom & love. I particularly enjoyed the back story of the Kingdom, how it came to be, what the people had to endure, how they came together for each other, cooking, helping, loving. This story is about family, particularly mothers & daughters. What it takes to survive, how we sometimes have to understand that we don't always want the same things, how to respect our differences while still holding onto our history.
I really loved this story!
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Donna M. (Kennesaw, GA)
Happy Land impressions
Happy Land introduced me to a part of American History of which I was never even aware—when former slaves relocated from South Carolina to North Carolina and created their own kingdom. We are shown how important continuity of generations can be.
The author alternated between the present day and the early years of Happy Land, and I thoroughly enjoyed the connected but separate stories. In addition to the themes of trials and difficulties, love of the land, appreciation for the earth's bounty and its benefits were emphasized. As we read stories of courageous and hardworking people, we are also reminded of the glory of nature.
The author writes well and with an authentic and natural voice. The book will be well-received by book groups. Individuals who know little about the kingdom (as it was called) will be fascinated.
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Anne C.
Great for a Book Club to Read
Review of “Happy Land” by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
The author of this new book mentions in her acknowledgments that she is a fan of historical fiction. That is probably true of a lot of readers, including myself. There is something magical in
learning about a true event, a place, or a group of people, and then reading this new information set in a compelling fiction story with vivid characters to bring it all to life.
The framework of the novel shifts between a group of freed slaves in the antebellum south and their descendants in the present day. The hardships and prejudices endured by the settlers of The Kingdom of the Happy Land are vividly described. The modern characters are portrayed as a family in crisis, with many old grudges and misunderstandings to solve.
The author keeps the interest level high between chapters, as the reader comes to care deeply about the people in both eras. The outcomes are revealed at last, in satisfying conclusions for all.
This is a book I plan to recommend to my neighborhood book club.
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Barbara B. (Harlingen, TX)
Happy Land
I loved the story and characters of this book. The Civil War has ended. The KKK is rampant. A group of freed people trek to remote Appalachia. They establish a communal village based on the laws and leadership of the African communities they were forced to leave. They call it Kingdom of Happy Land because all are happy.. They work hard. They prosper. They purchase land. They lose the land. It was a male dominated society until little by little it wasn't..
The story is told by Luella, one of the original settlers (1875) and by Nikki a present time great granddaughter. Nikki is amazed to learn the family history she never suspected but sets out to attempt to correct the wrongs.
Even readers who are not historical history buffs will enjoy these interesting characters. Perhaps while we are being entertained we will all take a moment to reflect on how our past affects our present..
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Deborah C. (Highland Park, NJ)
Enduring Injustices
Thank you to Book Browse and Berkley Books for an advance readers copy of this book.
Based on a true story, "Happy Land" is a saga of strength, struggle, survival and success.
In the 1870's, after emancipation, Black citizens in South Carolina find themselves persecuted by the Klan. Many of them leave, heading together for the mountains of North Carolina, to establish themselves on land where the community flourishes. However, while physically less vulnerable, they still must deal with economic and legal abuse, whose consequences continue to appear in the present.
Starting there, with the most recent descendants of this group, Happy Land returns to tell the 1870's saga of the family who led the move to their new life, and the ensuing efforts to grow and save the land they make their "Kingdom."
While the charismatic leader, William, originally led the way, it is the women in the family who persevere and who tell the story: Nikki, in the present, and Luella, 150 years before, at the Kingdom's beginning. In the first person, each woman speaks with a distinct voice, yet their conversational styles give well-defined voices to a variety of family members and neighbors.
The story is engrossing, the writing engaging, and the dialog draws the reader in so thoroughly, it takes a moment to return to one's own world. This would make an excellent book group choice.
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Wendy F
Lovely historical fiction
A tale of family, land ownership, and freedom. Learning the history of this intentional community shows the perseverance of a people. The love and heartbreak we can feel within our families is shown throughout this book. It gives hope through history.
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Diane J. (Grove City, PA)
Finding Refuge in Happy Land
Each of Doris Perkins-Valdez's books allow readers to look behind the scenes and witness the courage and faith of enslaved people. The author has successfully narrated difficult periods in our country's history (spanning from pre Civil War time through ongoing racial violence in the post Civil war Reconstruction era) which we need to continue to revisit in order to go forward.
Perkins-Valdez's newest book, Happy Land, reveals a how a community of freed slaves moved away from the developing KKK threat to build a safe community protected with their own governance. This unique commune was known as a "kingdom" (modeled after African communities) and remarkably, they gained the freedom of land ownership.
This little known chapter of Black history is presented in an appealing dual timeline. We are first introduced to the group of brave and hardworking individuals who establish the kingdom in the 1870's. Then, a modern account traces the decedents of the Kingdom of Happy Land founders. It was fascinating to connect the dots of the multiple generations.
The only bump in the road I encountered was in the second half of the book. A perplexing plot line develops between two characters in the Kingdom of Happy Land. This felt like a diversion that only delayed learning of the social, legal and technological events that threatened the kingdom. The story finally gets recentered and arrives at a realistic and satisfactory conclusion.
I strongly recommend Happy Land to historic fiction and literary fiction readers. Through the lively and sympathetic characters Perkins-Valdez lovingly puts together, I learned about so much more about Reconstruction era history.
Thank you BookBrowse for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
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