Robin’s Rave Reviews 2024

Yes! Another perfect book for your beach bag this summer! A HAPPIER LIFE by Kristy Woodson Harvey, part historical fiction, part mystery, part women’s fiction, part romance, is told in a dual timeline: present day with Keaton Smith, and in 1976 with her grandparents Rebecca “Becks” and Townsend St. James.

Summary

Keaton, a young professional in NYC, has lost her job and her condo. While she figures out her next move, her mother asks her to clear out Keaton’s grandparents’ house in Beaufort so it can be sold. Keaton knew they died in a car accident before she was born, but this is the first she’s heard of the historic house on the North Carolina seaside. Her mother and uncle have held onto the house for nearly fifty years. Keaton agrees and takes her dog Salt along for the trip. (Who doesn’t love a story with a dog? And this dog is based on Kristy’s own dog named Salt!)

Keaton isn’t prepared to walk into a 1970s time-warp. It looks like Becks and Townsend just stepped away, including dishes left on the dining room table from one of Becks’ famous dinner parties. As Keaton is adjusting to the shock, Anderson, a ten-year-old, boy pops in. He lives next door with his divorced, grumpy, hot dad, Bowen.

While Keaton struggles with the enormous cleaning job, she connects more deeply with the locals.  Keaton learns that everyone knows everything in a small town, so different from NYC. She becomes friends with the Dockside Dames, a group of older women who get together every morning for coffee and gossip. Their stories of her grandparents help Keaton connect with family she never knew. Keaton sees what life could be like here. She’s faced with comparing her fast-paced, workaholic life in NYC to what small town life on the ocean with Bowen and his son could be like.

The story of her grandparents dying in a car accident begins to have some holes. Although her grandparents’ car was found submerged in the water, their bodies were never recovered. When Keaton discovers her mother and uncle have suspicions that their parents were actually murdered, Keaton better understands why they never returned to the house. But what really happened to Becks and Townsend?

We go back in time for Becks to tell her love story. Becks was disowned by her parents for marrying Townsend, the love of her life. She focuses on making life easier for others and throwing her famous dinner parties while Townsend starts his doctor practice in Beaufort. Although Becks journals all her entertaining tips for her daughter, her granddaughter Keaton is the one to find it nearly fifty years later. It helps her connect with the grandmother she never knew.

Trying to decide what to keep and what to discard from her grandparents’ life and mother’s childhood is more difficult than Keaton expected. Keaton finally convinces her mother and uncle to come look through some things and get closure. Becks and Townsend left multiple clues behind, leading the family to learn the truth of what happened to them.

My Thoughts

There’s a lot here for readers of several genres including romance, women’s fiction, and mystery. It’s a multi-generational story of family relationships and how we deal with damage done in the past. It’s about forgiveness and reconciliation, about valuing the past and the family who came before us, and about romantic love and second chances. It reinforces that we shouldn’t judge the happiness of someone else’s life because people define happiness differently. What’s right for one isn’t for another. Perhaps when you determine you’ve lived a life worth living, you’ve found true happiness.

I loved A HAPPIER LIFE by Kristy Woodson Harvey. May I suggest you purchase A HAPPIER LIFE here at Bookshop.org? This online bookstore supports mom and pop bookstores nationwide!

If you like…

If this book appeals to you, check out these Kristy Woodson Harvey books I’ve previously reviewed and recommend:  The Summer of Songbirds, The Wedding Veil, Under the Southern Sky, Feels Like Falling, and the whole Peachtree Bluff series.

 

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