Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

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🌿 Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez ⭐⭐⭐✨ (3.5/5)

👉 Buy Happy Land on Amazon (affiliate link)

⚠️ Trigger Warnings

This book contains:

  • Racism & racist violence

  • Offensive historical language

  • Domestic violence & abuse

  • Pregnancy loss

  • Death & illness

  • Sexual content

  • Cursing

First Impressions 🍹

Ok, does anyone else think of Margarita every time they read Mother Rita? Just me? Fine. 😂 Anyway, besides my sudden craving for tequila and lime, let’s talk about this book.

Happy Land was one of those novels where I learned something new (the real-life Kingdom of the Happy Land) but also found myself… occasionally yawning. Beautiful cover though. Whoever designed it deserves a gold medal 🏅.

Spoiler-Free Thoughts 💭

I’ll be honest — I had never heard of the Kingdom of Happy Land before, and I’m glad this book exists to shine a light on that history. If this had been purely fictional, I probably would have tossed it aside. Perkins-Valdez did her homework.

👍 Things I liked:

  • Narration: The audiobook had a pleasant voice and rhythm.

  • Flawed characters: Nobody here is “perfect” or excused for bad behavior, which I appreciated.

  • History: I genuinely enjoyed learning about this little-known Black settlement.

👎 Things that bugged me:

  • Dual timelines felt unnecessary. Once Nikki started digging into family history, why not just stay there until it wrapped? The back-and-forth made things choppy.

  • Some chapters were just… boring. I’m sorry.

Overall: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

📖 Full Plot Summary (Spoilers Ahead!)

(Skip if you don’t want spoilers!)

Present Day 🏙️

Nikki Lovejoy-Berry, a 39-year-old DC real estate agent, gets a call from her estranged grandmother Mother Rita, who lives in rural North Carolina. They haven’t spoken in 8 years (long family feud vibes), but Nikki decides to visit. Mother Rita starts sharing stories about their family and the Kingdom of the Happy Land, a community of freed enslaved people who built their own “kingdom” in the 1800s.

Nikki digs into research, skeptical at first, but gradually finds proof. Meanwhile, Mother Rita is diagnosed with cancer and fighting to keep her land from being taken by greedy neighbors, the Thomas family.

Past Timeline (1800s) ⏳

After the Civil War, Luella Bobo and her father join a group of freed people who move into the North Carolina hills to escape the KKK. Led by brothers William and Robert Montgomery, they build a settlement called the Kingdom of the Happy Land.

Luella marries William, but he’s abusive and later injured in a mining accident. After he disappears, she ends up in a partnership (romantic and otherwise) with Robert, with whom she has children. Together, they make the kingdom thrive — sewing, farming, and even producing a popular liniment. They eventually purchase 205 acres of land from Widow Davis, finally securing ownership.

The kingdom flourishes but later struggles as younger generations drift away. Luella lives to see her children grown, and though the community shrinks, she remains its symbolic queen.

Back to the Present 🕰️

Nikki learns the Thomases are trying to evict Mother Rita because of gaps in the historical deed records. The family goes to court, and at first things look bad. Then Nikki and their lawyer discover a North Carolina adverse possession law (squatter’s rights, basically) that allows Mother Rita to claim ownership since her family lived there so long. 🎉

The judge rules in their favor, granting Mother Rita land including her home, garden, and the ancestral graveyard.

Mother Rita dies in December, but Nikki inherits the property. The book ends with Nikki determined to tell the story of the Kingdom of the Happy Land and embrace her heritage. 🌱

Final Verdict 🎯

⭐ 3.5 out of 5 stars.

  • Loved the history.

  • Loved the flawed, human characters.

  • Did not love the unnecessary timeline hopping or the slow sections.

Still — this is an important, often overlooked slice of history, and for that, I’m glad I read it.

🌟 You Might Also Like…

If you enjoyed Happy Land, you may also like:

✨ Have you ever heard of the Kingdom of the Happy Land before this book? Drop a comment below — and tell me if you also thought of margaritas whenever Mother Rita appeared! 🍸

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