Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez Summary

Happy Land is a historical fiction novel that uncovers the remarkable true story of the Kingdom of the Happy Land, a community of formerly enslaved people who established their own kingdom with a king and queen in the North Carolina mountains during the 1800s. The novel follows Nikki Lovejoy, who is summoned by her estranged grandmother Mother Rita and discovers she is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Queen Luella, learning about her family's fight to protect ancestral land across generations.

Happy Land is ideal for readers interested in African American history, historical fiction based on true events, and stories about identity and legacy. The novel appeals to those who appreciate dual-timeline narratives, family sagas exploring generational connections, and stories about land ownership and heirs' property issues. Fans of Dolen Perkins-Valdez's previous works like Take My Hand and Wench, or readers who enjoy authors like Colson Whitehead and Yaa Gyasi, will find this book particularly compelling.

Happy Land is worth reading for its unique resurrection of forgotten Black history and powerful exploration of collective identity and inheritance. The novel earned widespread critical acclaim, appearing on "Most Anticipated" lists from People, Elle, and Reader's Digest. Reviewers praise Perkins-Valdez's ability to balance historical reverence with creative storytelling, making this 2025 release both luminous and subversive. The book offers gripping narrative while addressing timely issues of land loss and historical erasure.

Dolen Perkins-Valdez is a New York Times bestselling author and Associate Professor at American University, recognized as a preeminent chronicler of American historical life. Her previous novels include Wench (2010), Balm (2015), and Take My Hand (2022), which won the 2023 NAACP Image Award and American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award. Perkins-Valdez holds a PhD in English from George Washington University and has written introductions for classic works including Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave.

The Kingdom of the Happy Land was a real African American community established by formerly enslaved people in western North Carolina during the 1800s. Dolen Perkins-Valdez discovered this history through archival research, including a 1950s pamphlet by local historian Sadie Patton. The community members genuinely called themselves king and queen, inspired by memories of African kingdoms. While Perkins-Valdez fictionalizes the characters and specific events, the novel resurrects this authentic freedpeople's community and their mountain kingdom.

Happy Land explores identity—both personal and collective—asking who we are within our lineage and inherited history. The novel examines legacy and inheritance, questioning what gets passed down consciously and unconsciously, and what systems allow to survive or disappear. Generational memory and motherhood form crucial threads, depicting fragile connections between mothers and daughters. Land ownership, community building, historical erasure, and reclaiming what was lost emerge as central concerns throughout the dual-timeline narrative.

• Nikki Lovejoy is the present-day protagonist, a nearly forty-year-old Washington DC real estate agent visiting her estranged grandmother Mother Rita after a failed marriage.
• Queen Luella is Nikki's great-great-great-grandmother who ruled the Kingdom of the Happy Land in the 1800s.
• Mother Rita is Nikki's grandmother who has lived on the ancestral land for decades and summons Nikki to share their family history and protect the property from legal challenges threatening their heirs' property rights.

Happy Land alternates between two narratives: the present-day story of Nikki Lovejoy discovering her heritage in North Carolina, and the historical timeline following Queen Luella and the founding of the Kingdom of the Happy Land in the 1800s. This parallel structure allows Dolen Perkins-Valdez to draw connections between how the family gained land and lost it in the past, and how they fight to reclaim it in the present, creating powerful resonance between historical and contemporary struggles.

Happy Land illuminates how African American families lost lands they worked to make their own, addressing heirs' property issues where descendants face ownership challenges despite generational residence. The novel demonstrates that understanding ancestral land connections shapes personal identity—as Nikki says, she mourns "something you never had." Perkins-Valdez shows how land represents more than property; it embodies collective memory, freedom, creativity, and the legacy of Black folks who built community from dire oppression through imagination and resilience.

Happy Land explores how silence and estrangement break the transmission of family history across generations. Nikki's mother left North Carolina at eighteen, creating a rift that kept Nikki ignorant of her identity as Queen Luella's descendant. The novel examines what we choose to carry forward, what we forget, and what resurfaces despite silence. Dolen Perkins-Valdez tenderly portrays how reconnecting with ancestral stories heals wounds, with Nikki experiencing profound grief for lost connections while discovering strength through her royal lineage.

Happy Land feels particularly subversive as it resurrects Black history during a time when federal agencies face orders to delete American history from websites. Published in April 2025, the novel addresses ongoing issues of land theft, historical erasure, and heirs' property challenges affecting African American families today. Perkins-Valdez's work counters the disappearance of Black stories by giving voice to forgotten freedpeople communities, making Happy Land both a historical recovery project and urgent contemporary commentary on whose stories deserve preservation.

Happy Land continues Perkins-Valdez's signature approach of resurrecting overlooked African American history—similar to how Wench explored enslaved women at vacation resorts and Take My Hand addressed 1970s reproductive injustice. Like her previous works, Happy Land balances historical accuracy with creative storytelling, but stands apart in its focus on Black self-governance and kingdom-building. The novel's dual timeline and family saga structure offer fresh perspectives while maintaining the evocative, gripping style that earned Take My Hand the 2023 NAACP Image Award.