Happy Land

Discuss the interconnectedness of Nikki’s discovery of her familial history and her own journey of self-discovery. What does she learn about herself as a result of her newfound understanding of her ancestry?

Identify one individual that is an antagonist in the text. How is this person characterized? How does he or she work against either Luella or Nikki? What is their wider significance in the text?

What is the significance of decision to form a kingdom, specifically with a king and queen? In your response, discuss how this idea challenges typical perceptions of Black communities after freedom from enslavement.

Choose two specific moments in the text where the dual narratives inform each other. How does the text’s structure provide the reader with a deeper understanding of both narratives? How does the novel explore the relationship between past and present more generally?

When Robert apologizes to Luella for abandoning her, she remarks that she “couldn’t blame him for what slavery did to [them], how it messed [them] up on the insides so that love became something more complicated than it was ever meant to be” (272). How does the novel examine the idea of love and gender dynamics?

The novel’s mood shifts frequently, as Nikki and Luella undergo moments of hardship, victory, and contentment. Choose three scenes that reflect three distinct moods. How does Perkins-Valdez uses diction, imagery, figurative language, tone, or other literary devices to convey that mood?

Compare and contrast Luella and Nikki. How are the two women different or similar in terms of their characterization and/or their character arcs?

What role do ideas of cycle and rebirth play in the novel? What images help to convey these ideas?