A Happier Life -- Kristy Woodson Harvey, Hardcover

With "her signature warmth and Southern charm" (E! Online), the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer of Songbirds and the Peachtree Bluff series presents a tender and touching novel about a young woman who discovers the family she has always longed for when she spends a life-changing summer in North Carolina.

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 in a car accident 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: After meeting her adoring husband Townsend, Rebecca "Becks" Saint James abandoned the life she knew and never looked back. Forty years later, she's 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 explores the power of family, the bonds of friendship, and the boundless nature of love.

Author: Kristy Woodson Harvey
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 06/25/2024
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.36lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.07d
ISBN: 9781668012192

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 05/01/2024 pg. 18

About the Author
Kristy Woodson Harvey is the New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, including The Wedding Veil, Under the Southern Sky, and The Peachtree Bluff series, which is in development for television with NBC. 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 online and print publications including Southern Living, Traditional Home, USA TODAY, Domino, and O. Henry. Kristy is the winner of the Lucy Bramlette Patterson Award for Excellence in Creative Writing and a finalist for the Southern Book Prize. Her books have received numerous accolades including Southern Living's Most Anticipated Beach Reads, Parade's Big Fiction Reads, and Entertainment Weekly's Spring Reading Picks. Kristy is the cocreator and cohost of the weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction. She blogs with her mom Beth Woodson on Design Chic, and loves connecting with fans on KristyWoodsonHarvey.com. She lives on the North Carolina coast with her husband and son where she is (always!) working on her next novel.