Congrats Kristy
on the release last month of
A Happier Life!
A Happier Life by Kristy Woodson Harvey
Women's Fiction, Contemporary, 384 pages
Published June 25, 2024 by Gallery Books
“Full of Southern charm and characters that will stay with you” (Jennifer Probst, New York Times bestselling author), this tender novel follows a young woman who discovers the family she has always longed for when she spends a life-changing summer in North Carolina—from New York Times bestselling author Kristy Woodson Harvey.
Present Day: Keaton Smith is desperate for a fresh start. So when her mother needs someone to put her childhood home in Beaufort, North Carolina, on the market—the home that Keaton didn’t know existed until now—she jumps at the chance to head south. But the moment she steps foot inside the abandoned house, she’s confronted with secrets about grandparents who died before she was born. And as she gets to know her charming next-door neighbor, his precocious ten-year-old son, and a flock of endearingly feisty town busybodies, she soon finds she has more questions than answers.
1976: Rebecca “Becks” Saint James has made a name for herself as the best hostess North Carolina has ever seen. Her annual summer suppers have become the stuff of legend, and locals and out-of-towners alike clamor for an invitation to her stunning historic home. But she’s struggling behind the façade. Becks strives to make the lives of those around her as easy as possible, but this summer she is facing a dilemma that even she can’t solve. And as the end of the season looms, she is brought to a decision she never wanted to make.
As both Keaton and Becks face new challenges and chapters, they are connected through time by the house on Sunset Lane, which has protected the secrets, hopes, and dreams of the women in their family for generations. For fans of Summer of ‘69 and The Notebook, “A Happier Life is that wistful, sparkling summer song whose notes will long linger in readers’ memories” (Mary Kay Andrews, New York Times bestselling author).
My thoughts about A Happier Life ~~
(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first line.)
First line—"Houses outlive the people they love."
I absolutely love everything KWH writes and look forward to her new releases! Her books take me to wonderful places full of kind, caring characters, people I wish in knew in real life.
A Happier Life is told with dual timelines—the present where Keaton goes back to her mother's house to get it ready to sell, and the past of the grandmother she never knew. The neighbors, the house, and journals she finds fill in the unknown of the lives of her grandparents.
Once again, Kristy has created a world that was such an amazing escape for me. The story is filled with interesting, fun characters who charmed me the first time I met them. There was plenty of drama to keep me intrigued and I devoured this story. I absolutely loved A Happier Life, as I have all of Kristy's other books. It's the perfect book to add to your summer reading list. I highly recommend it!
I received a copy of A Happier Life from the publisher and this is my honest opinion.
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Kristy Woodson Harvey is the New York Times, USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author of eleven novels including A Happier Life, The Summer of Songbirds, and The Peachtree Bluff Series. Many of her books have been optioned or are in development for television and film and have received numerous accolades, including Good Morning America’s Buzz Pick, Southern Living’s Most Anticipated Reads, Katie Couric’s Featured Books, and Joanna Garcia Swisher’s The Happy Place Read. Kristy is the winner of the Lucy Bramlette Patterson Award for Excellence in Creative Writing and a finalist for the Southern Book Prize.
A Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s school of journalism, her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Southern Living, Parade, Traditional Home, USA TODAY, and many more. She also holds a master’s in English, with a concentration in multicultural and transnational literature.
Kristy is the cocreator and cohost of the weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction with fellow New York Times Bestselling authors Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, and Patti Callahan Henry. She is also the co-founder of the interiors site Design Chic, with her mom, Beth Woodson.
She lives on the North Carolina coast with her husband, son, and dog, Salt, where she is (always!) working on her next novel.
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