OMG! This is the BEST BOOK I HAVE READ in the past 5 years!!!!! Narration was perfection, seriously, chef's kiss! Moral of my weird rant: Get this Book, Read it! or Listen, what ever floats your boat. You can thank me later. You don't have to read the rest of you don't want to now. I grew up in the D. C. area and I was always going to the history museums (or the air & space museum) but when we were learning all about the east coast's history, especially the civil war and after. But either way, This book has me laughing, crying, cheering, yelling, you name it, I was probably doing it. As well as telling my husband all about it and then when he fell asleep, (to be fair, he had taken his meds and he was trying to fall asleep) I turned to my online crochet group and asked if the book club there had read this book yet.

Story was very interesting. Great how it was based on a true story. Well-written. Did not care for the male protagonist, but his mannerisms and behavior probably made sense for the novel's setting. Honestly, I didn't like the narrator very much, but you might find my reasoning petty. She hits the 'g' at the end of words that end in 'ing' very hard, and it was off-putting and distracting. It didn't become 'guh' exactly but it was too close, in my opinion, and it kept removing me from my immersion in the story. Other than that, her voice and acting were pleasant enough, but the aforementioned issue is present quite a bit. Worth listening to if the subject seems interesting, and if the issue I mentioned sounds like something you can ignore.

I had not heard of this community before and really enjoyed learning about the Happy Land and how hard people were willing to work together to find a place where they felt they belonged. The group endured so much horror and hardship but did not give up. Well researched and well told.

This was surprisingly very good. It held my interest and reeled me in. I can only imagine how the contrast from slavery to freedom must have felt.

Phenomenal read! So glad I engaged!!! Plot, setting, descriptions, narrative and characterization were all spot on! This AUTHOR knows what she’s doing and does it well. Thumbs up for the NARRATOR with one caveat: As Anthony S. Put it below, her pronunciation of every word ending in “g” is too harsh, and it is of. Putting. Not sure who told her it was a good idea, but she needs to ditch it.

Marian Ibraheem was an Amazing woman. The theme thought out the story exemplifies a powerful woman of resilience, courageous, resourcefulness.- Strong-willed, intelligent, able to communicate, loving wife and mother.- Strong in her spiritual belief, a God loving and God fearing individual. - She believed in her God, and was not ashamed of her spiritual background. She was steadfast in her belief. A beautiful story. I'll probably listen to it again.

Absolutely content -worthy , rich in research and beautifully written masterpieces !!!! My husband and I ended up listening to this story…it’s sometimes difficult to come across well written stories of black culture without all the violence and cursing… and I realize that it’s sometimes necessary to include the roughness of slavery and racism in order to stay true to the subject matter, but somehow the author was able to tell the story without it and it was refreshing ! I recommend and have already suggested it to friends.

Educational, important, interesting. Suitable for teenagers, also. Choice of expressions and manners seem a bit too modern, so I cannot say it was captiveting.

Wonderful story and wonderfully narrated.

The story is very interesting and well told. The Happy Land is not something I have heard of and was glad to hear the history. I really enjoyed the narration. It helped me to picture all of the people with more clarity.

At first thought it was a bit predictable, but considering that it is very much based on fact, I stuck with it and glad I did. A very, very good historical novel that NEEDS to be heard, especially now.

This is another wonderful story of the history of the US that is forgotten and untold until now. Fascinating and heartbreaking. More reason to be hard to be white!

I live very close to what was the Happy Land so I had an interest in the story. The history is fascinating and provides the reader/listener with a glimpse of the struggles of slaves post emancipation. The narration was wonderful. Some of the character development was thin and though I understand historical fiction is just that, there was much in the language and relationships that verged on trite and out of sync with the time period.

The narration & singing was wonderful. However, the story was only interesting for its historical significance. The characters seemed B&W, except one unexpected person, which was revealed at the end.

The story was quite interesting & to know it was based on fact,makes hou wonder upon the strength of those people as they forged a future in uncertain times. The narration was good, but I felt it fell a bit flat at the end.

Great to learn about a history that has never been in front of me before

I thought the writing held back a lot of emotion that it would have had if different words were chosen. The story was interesting and the characters were well developed. As far as the narrator, she had a distracting way of pronouncing the final “g” on words- for example cryink for crying. It made it choppy and irritating.

Narrator was fantastic! Really inspiring story of the human spirit against unconscionable hardships. Testament of what a group of people can accomplish when we work together for the common good.

I love historical fiction. Especially well-researched fiction. This books hits it all, and reveals an unknown and triumphant piece of history. So glad I read it. Great narrator. I’m very grateful the author includes that not all white people were evil at that horrible point in history. My family didn’t live in the United States during this era but I’ve always fantasized that they would have been good to the poor enslaved people if they had.

Wonderful storytelling! I appreciated the writers in-depth historical research. Narrator was fantastic!