Happy Land
The spellbinding new novel from the bestselling author of Take My Hand
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- 10,99 €
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- 10,99 €
Publisher Description
'Exactly the novel we need right here, right now' TAYARI JONES
'Astonishing' JODI PICOULT
'Triumphant' ELLE
A woman learns the astonishing truth of her family's ties to a vanished American Kingdom in this riveting new novel from the bestselling and award-winning author of Take My Hand
Nikki Berry hasn't seen her estranged grandmother Rita in years - until an unexpected phone call summons her to the hills of North Carolina. There, Nikki learns the astonishing truth of her family's past: her formerly enslaved ancestor Luella was the queen of a now vanished American Kingdom.
The Kingdom of the Happy Land sounds like a fairytale. But beneath its legend, family secrets lie buried deep in the hills . . .
Now, Nikki must protect her family's legacy before - like so much else - it is stolen away.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Perkins-Valdez (Take My Hand) shines in this exquisite tale of a woman who learns about her Black family's trailblazing history from her estranged grandmother. Nikki Lovejoy-Berry, a real estate agent in Washington, D.C., grew up without ever visiting her mother's hometown in North Carolina, or knowing why her mom remains estranged from her grandmother, Mother Rita. So when Mother Rita mysteriously summons Nikki to the mountain town of Zirconia, N.C., where Nikki's mom grew up, she's intrigued. It turns out Mother Rita is terminally ill and needs help fighting a developer who's trying to force her off her land. As Nikki attends court dates and provides her grandmother with advice, she learns about her ancestors, who established the area as the Kingdom of the Happy Land, a self-sufficient community for formerly enslaved people after the Civil War. In a parallel narrative, the reader learns about Nikki's ancestor Luella, who became the community's queen after migrating there from South Carolina. It's a beautifully rendered depiction of a lost world, one that gains even more power as Nikki comes to terms with the struggles her ancestors faced and the truth about her family's recent discord. Readers will be deeply satisfied.
