Happy Land: A Review

I received a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This book shook me. Not in a bad way, but in a way that totally hit too close to home. Therefore, there may be some spoilers, but I will always give you a [SPOILER ALERT] so you can skip down to the next paragraph.

Happy Land is a novel about a Black woman who is estranged from her roots and while on a trip to visit her grandmother, the first in her life, she discovers that she is descended from royalty. A royal kingdom set up right in the heart of Appalachia, a kingdom of freed men and women. Should she, Nikki, believe all this or are they simply stories passed down and exaggerated with time? This novel is told in dual POV and dual timelines. We get Nikki a forty-year old single mother who is trying to balance career and family, and Luella, the young woman who was the queen of Happy Land, the kingdom of freed peoples. The two voices are very distinct and Perkins-Valdez uses that to her benefit.

Stars: 5/5

While some aspects of this novel hit a little too close to home, there are so many wonderful things about it as well. Nikki is out of touch with her roots, her culture. Because of this, she doesn’t have high aspirations, just like her mother didn’t, just like her daughter doesn’t. Because she has no idea of her proud history, she can’t see the possibilities that life has for her. Nikki just thought she came from a line of only daughters, ones who live simple lives, get married and work. Yet when she goes to visit her grandmother, Mother Rita, all that changes. Understandably, Nikki is skeptical at first, a kingdom of freedmen? There weren’t no kingdoms in the US, and definitely none like that. At least that is what she has always believed, and what everyone seems to believe.

This novel touches on a lot of things, things that may make you need a break from it. I know that I did. For example, the lack of archiving of Black histories and families, land stolen time and time again from Black and brown people, lost hope, motherhood, dealing with family drama. And if any of that is triggering for you, please be warned.

To really talk about this book, I have to go deep. I have to get personal, because it isn’t a novel that you stay distanced from. It is one that pulls you in close and holds you there. As a Black woman I can say without a doubt that many matriarchs and patriarchs have gone on without sharing their story, without the younger generations knowing who they are, who the family is, why certain things are done, why other things are not. The author, Dolen Perkins-Valdez touches on all of this. We get the distinct sense that there is something missing, a puzzle piece thrown away to leave the puzzle forever unfinished. And that hits close to home. But we as readers also see what it is like to be a bridge, which is what Nikki acts as connecting her past and her present, her mother and her grandmother. While I don’t think that is a spoiler, this next bit may be.

SPOILER ALERT: We come to grips with the fact that while we may never know all or even understand it, family is integral. Nikki’s family was barely there because her mother Lorelle refused to listen to Mother Rita’s talks about Happy Land, wealthy Black landowners seemed like a pipe dream, a fantasy to her, and so she ignored it, moved, and cut ties with her mother. It’s only when Lorelle realizes that time is of the essence that she begins to open her mind to the idea that Happy Land and all of Mother Rita’s stories have truth to them.

While I favored Luella’s POV over Nikki’s, both are essential and give us a lot of information that propel us on in the story. And I am not ashamed to say that this novel did bring a tear or two, dealing with family and lost legacies is something I believe all African-descendants of enslaved people understand, there will always be something we don’t know. Yet that doesn’t mean we should continue to hush the narrative or keep silent. We should continue to strive for more and maybe, as Nikki did, do some digging into the lives of our families. Who knows what we may excavate?

At the end of the day, I am glad that I received this ARC and this is definitely a book that will stick with me for a good while, one that I will mull over and consider. It is definitely one that I would recommend to fellow readers, as well. It gave me some things to think about and reminded me of the importance of oral histories, storytelling, and understanding where you come from.