'Happy Land' was inspired by a real-life kingdom of formerly enslaved people

NPR's Book of the Day

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

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Summary

When Nikki travels to visit her grandmother in western North Carolina, she expects answers about her family's history. But instead, she uncovers her connection to the Kingdom of the Happy Land, a community of formerly enslaved people. Dolen Perkins-Valdez's new novel Happy Land follows Nikki as she delves deeper into family secrets. The author says she was inspired by the true story of an autonomous Black community that once lived in the mountains of Appalachia. In today's episode, Perkins-Valdez joins NPR's Michel Martin for a conversation about how the author first heard of this little-known chapter in North Carolina history.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. Often utopia means sci-fi, right?
0:08.2	Like flying cars and world peace and those machines they have in Star Trek that can make any meal you want on command.
0:14.7	Today's novel deals with a utopia of sorts, but it's rooted in a real-life place.
0:20.7	It's called Happy Land by Dolan Perkins-Valdes,
0:23.4	and it's about a secret community of formerly enslaved people making a home for themselves in the
0:28.9	mountains. And she talks to NPR's Michelle Martin about stumbling upon evidence of communities
0:33.5	like this existing while trying to learn to play the banjo.
0:38.0	That's ahead.
0:39.5	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:44.3	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, sources and methods.
0:50.9	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
0:58.5	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:03.7	It's a story you may have heard from your elders about a caravan of formerly enslaved people who made their way to the mountains of Appalachia,
1:11.5	where they found it a secret territory where they could make their own rules and live their own way,
1:16.5	free of the heavy hand of former enslavers.
1:19.2	What was this place, this happy kingdom, and what happened to it?
1:23.6	That's the story at the center of a new historical novel titled Happy Land by Dolan Perkins-Valdez.
1:29.1	And she's here with us now to tell us more about it. Welcome.
1:32.2	Thank you for having me.
1:33.9	Okay. So, fact or fiction?
1:37.7	Both.
1:38.5	Both.
	...

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