News

Author to speak on Kingdom of the Happy Land novel

By Lightning Reports, Published: August 29, 2024

In conjunction with Blue Ridge Community College, award-winning author Vanessa Miller will be speaking about her novel The American Queen at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Patton Building, 180 West Campus Drive.

Based on the true story of the Kingdom of the Happy Land in southern Henderson County, the novel shares the unsung history of a Black woman who built the Southern Appalachia refuge for the courageous people who dared to dream of a different way of life.

Over the 24 years she was enslaved on the Montgomery Plantation, Louella learns to feel one thing: hate. Hate for the man who sold her mother. Hate for the overseer who left her daddy to hang from a noose. Hate so powerful there’s no room in her heart for love, not even for the honorable Reverend William, whom she likes and respects enough to marry.

But when William finally listens to Louella’s pleas and leads the formerly enslaved people off the plantation, Louella begins to replace her hate with hope. Hope that they will find a place where they can live free from fear. Hope that despite her many unanswered prayers, she can learn to trust for new miracles.

Soon, William and Louella become the appointed king and queen of their self-proclaimed Kingdom of the Happy Land. And though they are still surrounded by opposition, they continue to share a message of joy and goodness — and fight for the freedom and dignity of all.

A best-selling author, playwright and motivational speaker, Miller has received numerous awards, including the 2024 American Fiction Award winner for Historical Fiction and the 2022 Best Christian Fiction award for her novel, Something Good, at the African American Literary Awards Show.