I love historical fiction because I always seem to learn something new, and Happy Land is a great example of that. Told via two timelines, the author reveals a little known story from US history in a powerful and intriguing way. I loved Take My Hand and this book is a superb follow up - I can't wait to see what the author writes about next!

Thanks to Berkley for the copy to review.

Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez blends past and present as Nikki reconnects with her family’s land and uncovers its layered history. At its heart is a moving mother–daughter thread, as Nikki navigates relationships with her grandmother, mother, and daughter. The themes of love, forgiveness, and resilience are passed down through generations, sometimes painfully, but always with power.

Queen Luella, Nikki’s great-great-great-great grandmother, is unforgettable. As a matriarch who helped build a Black utopian community after Emancipation, her story is filled with strength, vision, and yes—plenty of drama, including a love triangle that had me grinning. The novel also highlights the harsh reality of Black communities fighting to keep land that was too often stripped away.

Though the dual timelines felt familiar at times, the emotional depth and cultural richness made this a rewarding, impactful read.

I absolutely loved Happy Land. Anytime I get exposed to learning more about history, I get excited, and this story delivered on every level. It was beautifully written, and I really enjoyed the balance between the present-day story of Nikki and her grandmother, Rita, and the historical flashbacks of Luella.

This was my first read by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, but it will certainly not be my last. I look forward to reading more of her work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

TAKE MY HAND was one of my favorite books of 2023, so this had a lot to live up to! Although they're much different novels, they have many of the same hallmarks: A compelling blend of timelines, exploration of family dynamics and identity, and protagonist who fight for freedom. I love when fiction introduces me to a topic I know very little about. Case in point: Loved learning the real history behind "Happy Land." I'd recommend if you like intergenerational family novels, stories of resilience, or books that shed light on little-known parts of history.

Thank you Berkley Pub for a digital copy of this novel.

I really enjoyed this story and going back to Happy Land. I loved that this version gave us a dual timeline of Luella and her people, and also her present-day descendants on the land that she fought so hard for. I loved going back to Happy Land to see the community and how the people had evolved with the land from past to present. the oral tradition was highlighted in the novel and I enjoyed seeing the difference in made in the generations of this family. This novel showcased the very real-life experience of so many African Americans had have and continue to loose their inheritance and generational lands to vultures who use faulty system against these unsuspecting families.

This was my first novel by this author and I would certainly read more of their works in the future.

Nikki hasn’t seen her grandmother in years. After a fight between her mother and grandmother, Nikki and her mother became estranged from her grandmother. When Nikki receives an urgent message from her grandmother that she needs her in North Carolina ASAP, Nikki drops everything and heads there. Once in North Carolina , Nikki connects with Mother Rita the grandmother she never got the chance to know. As Mother Rita starts to share with Nikki the history of the land and the families generational ties to the land, Nikki realizes her mother kept so much family history from her. As Nikki and Mother Rita grow closer Nikki hopes to heal the relationship between the women in her life before it’s too late.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

I ended up buying a copy of this book and making it my book club’s July selection. I’m so glad I did.

Happy Land is a beautiful historical fiction novel that alternates between the story of formerly enslaved people who built an intentional community near the border of North and South Carolina and the story of their descendants in the present day who are reckoning with all that their ancestors sacrificed, won, and lost. The writing itself is spare and as gentle as I imagine the Carolina hills to be. While the book occasionally veered into being too didactic and even preachy, it was worth it to learn about the real-life communities like the Kingdom of the Happy Land, as well as the systemic racism that has led to loss/theft of land and wealth from Black Americans to this day. The emotional family dramas in both the past and present day stories—based on miscommunications, deceptions, wounded pride and egos—were wonderfully complex and resonant. Highly recommended for lovers of historical fiction. This will be one of my top books of the year.

Happy Land is a fascinating story about the connections between women, our ancestors, and how history shapes us. It provides a window into a piece of our culture and history that I wasn’t familiar with, and I appreciated every page.

Many thanks to Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Berkley, and NetGalley for the gifted copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Dolen Perkins Valdez's writing never disappoints. I feel in love with her novel, Take My Hand and I knew that I would enjoy this one.

I loved this book. The connection between Mother Rita and Nikki was so necessary for their growth as family & individually. Mother Rita was my favorite character. She held strong to her families story regardless of how farfetched it seemed and that proved beneficial in the end. Her belief was strong and she wasn't willing to be bullied. I loved Lou's love stories. For a woman of her time to experience two vastly different loves and acknowledge what she needed from both was beautiful to read.

I’ve been a fan of Dolen since her debut novel, WENCH. She has given us some outstanding novels, TAKE MY HAND. Her writing and characters are captivating. She knows how to tell a story. HAPPY LAND is a powerful historical novel inspired by the true story of a Black community founded by formerly enslaved people who built a self-governing kingdom in the Appalachian Mountains. It’s a beautifully layered exploration of land, legacy, and the fight to preserve both.

As Nikki uncovers her family’s deep connection to this remarkable place, the novel weaves past and present illuminating the power of inheritance and the importance of reclaiming history.

Mother Rita, Nikki, and Queen Luella will stay with me for a very long time.

A gorgeous story telling a true tale that has been forgotten for far too long. I devoured this one, and really loved the parallel timelines.

I snatched this up after absolutely loving Take My Hand. Sadly, I didn’t love this one. At the risk of spoiling things, unfortunately I have worked in real estate law for the past billion years so while this story was one that will stir up emotions in many readers and I’m sure thousands upon thousands of acres of land and lost generational wealth is true for soooooo many families, the origins of this particular “stolen” land here began within the community itself due to desperation, a transaction with a real scumbag and unpaid property taxes. No one can outfox the local tax collector!

If anyone knows any interesting audiobooks on the subject of these intentional Black communities after slavery was abolished or stolen land (nonfiction selections about gentrification included) I would love to give them a listen.

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever started a book and thought, “Yeah, this is good,” but then realized… you just weren’t in the mood for it? You’re enjoying it in theory, but in practice, your brain keeps drifting to the million other books on your TBR—like just thinking about them has already cast a spell on you that you can’t quite shake.

Classic mood reading, right?

Happy Land, now that’s a title that cast an instant charm on me. A book named Happy Land, about a place called the Kingdom of the Happy Land? Say no more. I was already halfway to packing my bags. It had all the right ingredients for a magical brew: solid writing, vivid characters, and an intriguing premise.

And honestly? It was good. I kept trying to stay in the story, but that lingering spell just wouldn’t let go. Not because of the book—it wasn’t lacking—but because my reading energy just wasn’t aligned.

So what do you do when the spell fizzles out? Do you stir the cauldron a little longer, or hop off your broomstick and follow the tug of another book.

For now, I’m pressing pause. . I’m not giving it a bad rating or review. I’m about halfway through, and when the mood magic returns, I might just dive back into the Kingdom.

Because sometimes, it’s not about the book,it’s about the timing.

Happy mood reading, witches and friends!!!!

📚 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 📚

Feature Title: 𝙃𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙙
Author: Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Publisher: Berkley (April 8, 2025)
Pages: 368 | Genre: Historical Fiction, Family, African American, Fantasy

Thank you to @berkleypub for the gifted copy and @prhaudio for the gifted ALC.

Dolen Perkins-Valdez returns with 𝙃𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙙, a lyrical and layered novel inspired by the real-life Kingdom of the Happy Land—a post-Civil War Black utopian community in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Told through dual timelines, the story follows Nikki Lovejoy-Berry, a modern woman called back to her ancestral land, and Queen Luella, her great-great-great-grandmother who helped build a sovereign Black kingdom in the aftermath of slavery.

This is a novel about inheritance—of land, of silence, of strength. As Nikki uncovers the truth about her family’s past, she’s forced to reckon with what it means to protect a legacy that was never meant to survive. The prose is rich, the setting immersive, and the themes—resilience, reclamation, and generational memory—linger long after the final page.

It asks: What do we owe the land that remembers us? And what happens when we finally listen?

🅼🅴🅼🅾🆁🅰🅱🅻🅴 🆀🆄🅾🆃🅴🆂:
🗣️“We already tried voting and look where it got us. They killed us for it. It’s better to own land.” (p. 34).
🗣️“If this ain't the land of happy people, then where is it?” (p. 54).
🗣️“We’d always known the power of language, in some ways more powerful than the whip, but it was during freedom that we took back our words, starting with what we called ourselves” (p. 118).
🗣️“This place wasn’t just our home, it was our refuge”(p. 302).

🅲🅴🅽🆃🆁🅰🅻 🆃🅷🅴🅼🅴🆂:
📌Black Utopias and Historical Imagination
📌Land as Legacy and Resistance
📌Matrilineal Memory and Identity

🅱🅻🅰🅲🅺 🅵🅸🅻🅼 🆁🅴🅲🅾🅼🅼🅴🅽🅳🅰🆃🅸🅾🅽🆂:
🎬𝟰𝟬 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘀 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱) directed by R.T. Thorne
🎬𝗔 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗻𝗲 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯) directed by A.V. Rockwell
🎬𝗗𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝘂𝘀𝘁 (𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟭) directed by Julie Dash

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨(4.25)

🏷 #DolenPerkinsValdez #HappyLand #BerkleyBooks #HistoricalFiction #BlackLiterature #Bookstagram #ReadBlackAuthors #MultigenerationalStorytelling #CandiceReads #HaleYeahBooks #WellReadBlackGirl #BlackUtopia #KingdomOfTheHappyLand

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘦.

The more I read, the more I realize how much I do not know about the world, or even country we live in.

𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱 is the perfect example of that as The Kingdom of Happy Land was a real place, complete with kings and queens. This community of freed slaves lived in the Appalachian mountains near the end of the Civil War. I had no idea and apparently neither did the great-granddaughter of a Happy Land Queen in the present day story line.

Both timelines highlight the desire and need to preserve their culture, not only for themselves, but also for future generations. And sadly, they both show how much land (and wealth) has been lost over time. This is not common with heirs' property, where land is passed down through generations without clear legal title.

No different than 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗠𝘆 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱, I may have spent more time googling details than actually reading the book. Dolen Perkins-Valdez has an amazing ability to bring hidden pieces of Black history back to life in an time where history is continuously being suppressed. Make sure to read her Author's Note about this piece of history. I can't wait to see what she writes next.

Details: Dolen Perkins - Valdez • 368 pgs • 8 Apr 2025 • Gifted: @berkleypub @netgalley • 4⭐

This book was everything I thought it would be and soo much more. I loved it from beginning to end. Loved the story, loved the characters! Highly recommend!

I loved Take My Hand by this author and I enjoyed Happy Land also. The way this author brings history to life through her writing is so well done. I enjoyed Happy Land and am excited for more from this author.

I read this right after reading African Town, in which formerly enslaved people set up an intentional Black community, so the timing was perfect. I preferred Louella's story, which I'm sure is intentional, but I appreciate the framework of Nikki's experience to situate her family's history.

Once there was the Kingdom of the Happy Land that spanned the border of South and North Carolina. It was created by frees slaves from the south. There was even a king and queen. And in this story we learn of how Queen Luella raised a family and fought to hold onto the land that changed their lives.

Alternating with Luella's story is present day Nikki, a descendant of Luella who is only now, in her 40s, learning of her family's history.

I am always a fan of alternating POV and timeline, and while I enjoyed the history woven through Luella's story, I connected more strongly with Nikki's perspective. She is visiting her grandmother who up until now she wasn't close with, but in the short time Nikki spends with Mother Rita she learns there is so much more to her family's heritage and a legacy 150 years old.

Perkins-Valdez beautifully weaves this family story together with a wonderful culminating recognition and achievement. The writing is so smooth and natural. I really enjoyed this one. Recommended for fans of Sadeqa Johnson or Charmaine Wilkerson.