What readers think of Happy Land, plus links to write your own review.

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.

I was attracted to this book because of its beautiful cover, but also because it was historical fiction based on historical reality of a colony of emancipated enslaved people after the Civil War. Living in Kansas a couple of hours from the National Park Service Historic Site of Nicodemus, Kansas, a town on the plains of Kansas that exodusters from Kentucky founded when they homesteaded to the plains of Kansas, I wanted to know more about Happy Land, which seemed to be founded for the same reasons. I enjoyed learning the history of Happy Land, but the characters oftentimes were frustrating for me. It took me awhile to realize that these people had never had the opportunity to think for themselves and thus any poor decisions were the result of inexperience. The book also illustrated how ex-enslaved peoples were at the mercy of people who either wanted to make a buck off of their understandable ignorance or were militant in their continued white supremacy. It is a good book and perfect for those who like to learn about little known parts of American history.

I love it when fiction also presents overlooked historical events. Although I was aware that there were towns established by former slaves after the end of the Civil War, I had no knowledge of places like the kingdom of Happy Land. You know a book is holding your interest when you have to curb your need to look at the last pages. I found the characters to be believable and I loved the way the book moved from present day back to the Civil War era. And I liked that both present and past were equally compelling.

I really enjoyed Happy Land. I particularly enjoyed Luella’s chapters, as I always love historical fiction. Nikki was a good character who was trying to heal rifts in her family and connect with her grandmother, Mother Rita. I loved Mother Rita!

It was really interesting to learn about the intentional communities, like Happy Land. I thought the ending in the modern storyline was hopeful and highlights how what our ancestors experienced can impact us today. This book would be good for anyone who likes to read about strong women, complicated families, and interesting parts of history.

Four women-mother, daughter, granddaughter and grandmother-have differing generational knowledge and emotional connections with their ancestors' history and land that keeps the family members estranged from one another. Their shared ancestral history and the land that they will inherit invites the women to consider reconciliation while acknowledging their differences. An intriguing story of how the knowledge of family history can bind together or tear apart.

I don't know that I have ever read a novel about the lives of former slaves in postwar Civil War life. The original or at least rarely used theme makes the book interestingI. It is a glimpse of some of the difficulties encountered by the newly freed slaves, but an almost gentle one. It is juxtaposed with the current problems of the descendants of the same family. The story line illustrates how different the lives of the twenty-first century members of the family is from that of the nineteenth century family members. A fresh look at newly freed black family's perspective is worth reading and provides several avenues of discussion or discovery, especially for readers with little knowledge of the one hundred years after the American Civil War. The backdrop of discord within the modern family seems to add little to the story other than a mechanism by which to explain how they got where they are. Overall the book is an easy read and worth the time spent reading it.

I enjoyed this book. I'm a long time family researcher so I appreciated that this was based on a true story. I loved the woman-centered story lines, and the resiliency the women showed when faced with challenges seemed particularly appropriate right now.

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.