A Happier Life

by Kristy Woodson Harvey Narrated by Cassandra Campbell, Devon Sorvari, Fred Sanders

Overview

“New York Times bestselling author and southern sensation Kristy Woodson Harvey” (Good Morning America) presents a touching novel about eternal love and the places we call home.

The historic houses in the seaside town of Beaufort, North Carolina, have held the secrets of their inhabitants for centuries. One of the most enduring refuses to be washed away by the tide: What happened to Rebecca and Townsend Saint James on that fateful night of their disappearance in 1976?

Now, the granddaughter they never knew, Keaton Smith, is desperate for a fresh start. So when her mother needs someone to put her childhood home in Beaufort on the market, she jumps at the chance to head south. But the moment she steps foot inside the abandoned house, which has been closed for nearly fifty years, she wonders if she's bitten off more than she can chew. Wading through the detritus of her grandparents' lives, Keaton finds herself enchanted by their southern traditions-and their great, big love. As she gets to know her charming next-door neighbor, his precocious ten-year-old son, and a flock of endearingly feisty town busybodies, Keaton begins to wonder if the stories she has been told about her grandparents are true.

Keaton's grandmother, Rebecca “Becks” Saint James's annual summer suppers are the stuff of legend, and locals and out-of-towners alike clamor for an invitation to her stunning historic home. But, in the summer of 1976, she's struggling behind the facade of the woman who can do it all-and facing a problem that even she can't solve.

As 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 their family for generations.

“The novel to read this year” (Annabel Monaghan) explores the power of family, the boundless nature of love, and the idea that discovering where we came from just might lead us to A Happier Life.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

06/10/2024

Harvey (The Summer of Songbirds) spins a moving tale of a heartbroken young woman discovering her family’s secrets. Keaton Smith, a marketing guru in New York City, leaves her job after learning her boyfriend has just gotten her boss pregnant. Keaton then retreats to her hometown of Beaufort, N.C., occupying herself with helping her mother and uncle ready her grandparents’ abandoned house for sale. The grandparents, Townsend and Becks, disappeared almost 50 years earlier and were presumed dead after their wrecked car was discovered in a creek. Their lives have long been a forbidden subject for the Smiths. When Keaton arrives at the house, which she didn’t know was still in the family, she quickly gathers that nothing has been changed there since 1976, the year her grandparents were last seen, and grows determined to find out what happened to them. In a parallel narrative from Becks’s point of view in 1976, Harvey breathes life into the home, where Townsend and Becks regularly host dinner parties that make them the toast of the town. Gradually, Harvey reveals the reasons behind Becks’s disenchantment with her life and desire for a change. The tautly plotted story thrums with yearning as Becks and Keaton each seek meaning for their lives. This is women’s fiction at its best. Agent: Elisabeth Weed, Book Group. (June)

Mary Kay Andrews

With A Happier Life, Kristy Woodson Harvey takes us to a mysterious long-abandoned house on Sunset Lane, where family secrets whisper forth from the woodwork, summoning readers to partake of a dazzling buffet of old heartaches, friendship, family lore and yes, a second chance at love. A Happier Life is that wistful, sparkling summer song whose notes will long linger in reader's memories.

Patti Callahan Henry

Kristy Woodson Harvey has the voice of a best friend; a storyteller of the finest sort.

Brenda Novak

Everything about this novel reminded me of drinking sweet tea on a warm summer’s night while relaxing on a wide Southern porch, a ceiling fan slowly turning the air overhead. I smiled as I read the first page and breathed a contented sigh as I read the last—because A HAPPIER LIFE made me happier, too. Don’t miss it!

Emily Giffin

If you love small towns, Southern charm, romance, family sagas, or murder mysteries, this novel needs to be in your beach bag. I loved it.

Annabel Monaghan

Kristy Woodson Harvey takes a family of broken people and puts them back together with her signature humor and wisdom. Beautifully written and deeply emotional, A HAPPIER LIFE is a family mystery wrapped in a love story and is also a gracious nod to tradition and the people who came before us. This is the novel to read this year.

Jennifer Probst

A beautiful, big-hearted book that had me furiously flipping pages to solve the mystery! Full of Southern charm and characters that will stay with you. A magnificent read!

Product Details

BN ID:	2940159652072
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	06/25/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	336,744

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