Publisher: Gallery Books (Simon & Schuster)
Genre: Women’s fiction
Formats: $28.99 hardcover | $14.99 ebook | $27 audiobook
Released: June 25, 2024
Kristy Woodson Harvey is the New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, including the Peachtree Bluff series, which is in development for television with NBC. Woodson is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s school of journalism, and her writing has appeared in publications such as Southern Living and Traditional Home. Her books have been featured in Southern Living’s Most Anticipated Beach Reads, Parade’s Big Fiction Reads, and Entertainment Weekly’s Spring Reading Picks.
Harvey is also the co-creator and cohost of the weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction. She blogs with her mom, Beth Woodson, on Design Chic. She lives on the North Carolina coast with her husband and son where she is (always!) working on her next novel.
In A Happier Life, 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 the 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 50 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 10-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.
When asked what contributed to the book landing on USA Today bestseller list, Harvey said: “Book influencers have played a hugely critical role in A Happier Life—and many of my other novels—becoming bestsellers. Many of the people who shouted this book’s release from the rooftops have been my online friends for years.” The publisher supported the launch with influencer outreach, and Harvey reached out to influencers from her personal list. Further, Harvey engaged Uplit Reads, who she said is “the best of the best at helping put the right books in the hands of the right readers all while helping to foster my relationships with them.”
Harvey described her path to bestsellerdom as grassroots, driven by word of mouth among readers as well as by the relationships she fostered with readers and authors. She also emphasized that her book tour—particularly the relationships with booksellers she has fostered over years of book tours for prior releases—were integral to the book’s success. “It hasn’t been overnight, and I still have a long way to go, but watching sales grow from book to book has been incredibly gratifying, and I’m so grateful for everyone who has helped spread the word.”
Emily Wenstrom is a freelance writer and platforming expert and writes award-winning speculative fiction for teens and adults as E. J. Wenstrom.
E. J. Wenstrom believes in complicated heroes, horrifying monsters, purple hair dye and standing to the right on escalators so the left side can walk. She writes dark speculative fiction for adults and teens, including her new release, a young adult dystopian novel titled Departures (August 10, 2021). When she isn’t writing fiction, E. J. Wenstrom is a regular contributor to DIY MFA and BookRiot, and co-hosts the Fantasy+Girl Podcast. Learn more at her website.
