If I was putting together the definitive playlist for A HAPPIER LIFE, it could go on forever. Half of this novel takes place during the 1970s, and, if there was a better decade for music, I haven’t found it yet. But, beyond that, to me, this book feels a little like a summer beach day filled with carefree feelings and sun on the tide and boat days with champagne that seem to never end. But this book is also the embodiment of every song both about new love—the beginning part when everything is so exciting—and real, true, forever love that Rebecca and Townsend Saint James personify in this book. But, well, for the sake of brevity, (and understanding the assignment!) I have narrowed it down to five favorites that I highly recommend you listen to while reading this novel. I hope you enjoy every word of the book, every note of the music and that, together, they add up to A HAPPIER LIFE!
Carolina in My Mind, James Taylor. At the beginning of this novel, Keaton Smith isn’t only going to Carolina in her mind; she’s going in real life to clean out her grandparents’ house and put it on the market. The twist? No one from the family has stepped inside the house for more than forty years. This song evokes the easy, laid-back, lovely vibe of the Carolina coast that Keaton immediately finds herself swept away by.
We’ve Only Just Begun, The Carpenters. Not only are the Carpenters an iconic band of the 1970s, when half of this book takes place, but it also feels like the perfect song for those early phases of a new relationship when everything feels exciting and a little bit up in the air. I love this song for Keaton and Bowen’s early days of knowing each other. She even listens to it as she prepares her first Rebecca Saint James-worthy dining table.
Antihero, Taylor Swift. While I would never call one of my protagonists an antihero per se… Well, let’s just say that, in her romantic relationships, Keaton begins to realize throughout the course of this book that she just might be the problem.
Our House, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. On a very surface level, this song works because so much of this novel is centered around the house on Sunset Lane in Beaufort, NC that holds the secrets and stories of the generations of the Saint James family that have inhabited it. But, on a deeper level, this song gives that feeling of a home that is filled with the simple love of a couple and a family who savor their moments together. To me, this song feels like the essence of A HAPPIER LIFE.
You Can Close Your Eyes, James Taylor. So, yes, James Taylor gets two songs on this playlist. But he has so many perfect songs! There’s a sweet kind of melancholy to this one that encompasses eternal love, the kind that lasts even after death. It at turns feels like not only the big, true love of Rebecca and Townsend Saint James but also the familial love that Keaton feels for and from them as she cleans out their house and gets to know who they are--even from beyond the grave.
I hope these tunes help deepen your experience with A HAPPIER LIFE! Happy listening—and happy reading!
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.
Women's Fiction Contemporary | Romance Contemporary [Gallery Books, On Sale: June 25, 2024, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781668012192 / ]
Kristy Woodson Harvey is the New York Times, USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly best-selling author of nine novels including Under the Southern Sky, The Peachtree Bluff Series, and The Wedding Veil. Her Peachtree Bluff Series is currently in development with NBC with Kristy as co-writer and co-executive producer. She is the winner of the Lucy Bramlette Patterson Award for Excellence in Creative Writing, a finalist for the Southern Book Prize, and her books have received numerous accolades including Southern Living’s Most Anticipated Beach Reads, Entertainment Weekly’s Spring Reading Picks, and Katie Couric’s Most Anticipated Reads.
She blogs with her mom Beth Woodson on Design Chic about how creating a beautiful home can be the catalyst for creating a beautiful life. Design Chic is the inaugural member of the design blogger hall of fame, sponsored by Traditional Home, and winner of Amara’s Best Luxury Blog, as chosen by Roberto Cavalli. She also loves connecting with readers her website.
Harvey is a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s school of journalism and holds a master’s in English from East Carolina University, with a concentration in multicultural and transnational literature. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications and websites, including Southern Living, Traditional Home, Parade, USA Today, Domino, Our State and O. Henry. She has been seen in Today.com, Women’s Health, The Washington Post, US News and World Report, The Huffington Post, Marie Claire’s The Fix, Woman’s World, Readers’ Digest, Bustle, New York Live and North Carolina Bookwatch, among others.
Kristy is a co-founder and co-host of the hit weekly webshow and podcast, Friends & Fiction, with fellow authors Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel and Patti Callahan Henry. She is a proud member of the Tall Poppy Writers, serves on the board of The University of North Carolina’s Library Board, the Beaufort Historical Association, and is a member of the University of North Carolina’s Women’s Leadership Council. She is a frequent speaker at fundraisers, book conferences and private events. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and ten-year-old son where she is working on her next novel.
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