Wonderful storytelling! I'll have to grab a physical to see if there's a family tree but the story had me enthralled.

Special thanks to the author & @harperbooks for my gifted copy‼️

A book that truly lives up to the hype because Morgan Jerkins put her ancestors foot in this. Whenever I read a multigenerational story with dual timelines my first thought is always how will the author make it all connect. This book flows so beautifully from beginning to end and was written in a way that you would never forget these characters or their back stories.

The novel begins in the present with Ardelia and Oliver at their engagement party and Oliver gifts her a love letter that has been passed down through his family for generations. The letter becomes a central theme in the novel as the author takes readers back in time to the origins of where it all began.

Intertwining themes of fate, Black love, romantic relationships, community, found family, the decisions that shape our destiny, connections that are just meant to be, and the continuous struggle to maintain freedom. Morgan doesn’t shy away from proving to readers that something’s in our lives are inevitable and what or who is meant for you will always find you.

Have you ever been so invested in a book that the character deaths destroy you? That’s Zeal cause lord knows my heart couldn’t take anymore just one after another. This book also made me think about how back then so many people settled into relationships they didn’t truly want to be in. “Was their union born of love or of obligation, freedom or fear?” Some of these characters were forcing themselves into relationships where the love was often one-sided. “She was who she came from: a woman forcing herself into a space that wasn't hers.”

Overall, the book is amazing so please READ IT‼️ The author chose the perfect title because every character was in pursuit of something. Whether it was love, happiness, or freedom their unwavering desire never weakened and is why the descendants of both Tirzah and Harrison kept manifesting. Shoutout to my book club Vintage & Black @wellreadpharmacist for having Morgan join our discussion!

Dare I say this is going to be one of my favorite books of 2025.

I’ve been a fan of Morgan Jerkins ever since reading her memoir This Will Be My Undoing.
I’m a little sad to admit I didn’t pick up Caul Baby when it came out but after being completely blown away by Zeal, I’ll be reading it sometime this year.

Zeal snuck up on me. I went into it knowing very little, other than it was historical fiction.
What I found was so much more. Jerkins masterfully weaves together over 150 years of love, tragedy, hope, family, and perseverance. The story pans from the post–Civil War South all the way to the Covid era.

Every time I picked up this book, I couldn't put it down.

I’m a little late writing this review. I read this back in April but now it’s June, and I still can’t stop thinking about these characters.

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for an advanced reader's copy of Zeal.

Zeal, is a multi-generational narrative that explores the lingering impact of the past affecting the present. The story shifts back and forth through time, emphasizing how memories and unresolved traumas manifest in physical, spiritual, and emotional ways. The novel follows Ardelia, a cultural curator at the Schomburg Center, as she seeks to uncover her lineage and honor the legacies of her ancestors. The narrative also delves into the lives of other characters, such as Tirzah, a schoolteacher who uses her intellect as resistance, and Novella, who preserves intimate writings as a form of legacy.

At its core, Zeal explores Black womanhood, resistance, and the quest for identity. Jerkins masterfully weaves in historical details that spans generations. It shifts across decades and involves well-developed characters, each embodying grit and grace as they navigate their respective journeys. I loved the epistolary aspect as a narrative device adds depth, bridging gaps across time and serving as instruments of confession and healing.

Jerkins' attention to historical accuracy and her ability to integrate real Black history into the fictional narrative is commendable. The settings, such as The Forks of the Road slave market and the Freedmen’s Bureau, are not just backdrops but active participants in the story. This historical resonance enriches the novel, making it both an educational and emotional read.

It is a multi-generational love story, a meditation on legacy, and a layered historical epic that I truly enjoyed.

Zeal was one of my most anticipated reads for 2025. Although it was 400+ pages I am glad it did not drag. It was engaging as well as informative. When it comes to African American fiction, a lot of novels cover slavery or civil rights but I haven’t come across too many that delve into Reconstruction but this novel did. I really liked learning about the of the town of Nicodemus, KS as I had never heard of it or its relevance to African American history. The only critique I have is, because we know from the beginning that Oliver and Ardelia are linked through Tirzah and Harrison, it could have been more of an “aha moment!” when they figured it out. Or some type of big reveal that came along with it. However, I still enjoyed this novel.

Reading Zeal was a deeply moving experience. From Ardelia and Oliver’s engagement in Harlem to the heartbreak of Harrison and Tirzah after the Civil War, I was swept up in a love story that spans generations. The novel beautifully captures how the choices of the past echo through time—how longing, loss, and quiet resilience shape families for decades.
What I loved most was the hope woven through all the heartache. Even as tragedy separates lovers, there’s always a thread of connection pulling them—and their descendants—forward. By the time Ardelia and Oliver confront the weight of their family histories, I was rooting for them to break the cycle and find the happily ever after their ancestors couldn’t.
Zeal is rich, emotional, and unforgettable. It reminded me that love—no matter how long delayed—can still heal.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper for the ARC and opportunity to provide an honest review.

This book, without a DOUBT, will be one of the best of 2025. This book is excellent historical fiction that was well-researched. I was fully invested in the characters of this story, family members of different generations. I cried a few times, and although the story is heavy, I could not put this one down. Jerkins writing is so beautiful. It’s been a few days since I’ve finished, and I can’t stop thinking about it.

In Zeal, a multi-generational novel by Morgan Jerkins, the intertwined stories of two star-crossed lovers—Harrison and Tirzah—unfold over 150 years, spanning the post-Civil War era and reaching into modern-day Harlem. As their descendants, Ardelia and Oliver, face the weight of their ancestors’ unhealed wounds and secrets, their bond may be a cosmic reconciliation, or the burden of the past may threaten to tear them apart. A sweeping and meticulously researched exploration of love, legacy, and the lasting effects of slavery.

In this layered historical novel, Jerkins (Caul Baby) delivers a wrenching story of formerly enslaved people who sought to locate the family members they had been separated from in the most heartless ways. The tale opens with an engagement party for Oliver Benjamin and Ardelia Gibbs, where Benjamin gives his fiancé a love letter dated October 13, 1865 addressed to Harrison and signed by Tirzah who tells Harrison that she had met a good man, Isaac Levi, but she knows that “[w]e will see each other again and finally have rest and peace.”

The story then turns back in time to 1865 to introduce the reader to the recipient of the letter. Harrison, a discharged Union soldier, returns to the Ambrose plantation where he was enslaved in a devastated Natchez, Miss., to look for his beloved Tirzah. Unable to find her, he seeks help from the Freedmen’s Bureau. While he waited for word about Tirzah, Harrison serviced the women in the shantytown where he had settled and got a well-deserved reputation as a womanizer, “the soldier who knew his way around a woman’s body.”

Despite the promise of emancipation, the formerly enslaved people who resided in Natchez were victimized by the white community, including Confederate soldiers who were defeated and seeking revenge, and Harrison is incarcerated. Although Harrison received a cache of letters from Tirzah who was in Shreveport, Louisiana, he proposes to Tabithah, a woman who worked at the Freedman’s Bureau and who posted his bail, because she was “loving, doting, but most of all . . . here.”

Meanwhile, Tirzah (who looked more like the Ambroses than any of their white children) learned that the war was over when her animated mistress began to swoon and faint. Tirzah walked out of the house into the oppressive heat with the goal to go back to Mississippi to reunite with Harrison. Yet, her owner, Spenser Ambrose, a womanizing drunk who had regularly abused her, did not allow Tirzah her freedom. With the help of a compassionate Quaker and at the urging of her pastor lover, Isaac, Tirzah sought to escape to Mississippi, but the plot failed, and a pregnant Tirzah was returned to Shreveport and to Ambrose.

Jerkins follows the fortunes of Harrison and Tirzah, intertwining the stories of their descendants over 150 years, and navigating the legacy of slavery’s damage to the institution of the Black family. Jerkins links Ardelia’s and Oliver’s stories with those of Tirzah and Harrison, uncovering secrets held by the couple’s families and revealing how one of Tirzah’s letters was passed down through Oliver’s family. Jerkins has written an authentic and immersive multi-generational saga and historical romance. She highlights the resilience of the human spirit while exploring the enduring power of love against all odds. Thank you Harper and Net Galley for this book that showcases the unifying power of family.

I knew Morgan Jerkins was a talented writer but I was not prepared for how beautiful and well written Zeal would be. It’s got a large cast of characters from several different generations from the 1800s to the pandemic, but all of the characters are complex and the story coming together was so satisfying. This is a gorgeous and moving work of both historical and contemporary fiction. This is an early contender for one of my favorite releases of the year and I actually need everyone I know to read it. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

Ardelia and Oliver are a successful couple who've seemingly outrun their difficult ancestral roots by carving out enviable careers and a loving relationship. Guests are treated to a beautiful love letter at their engagement party, but the aged, crumpled letter is a mere snapshot of unrequited love, gut-wrenching disappointments, and decades of respite seeking for their respective families.

Jerkins characters leapt off the pages as each sought to right wrongs and heartaches from plantation planting rows, Mississippi juke joints, and smoke-filled Chicago night clubs where Southern transplants took a load off their day from factory shifts to breathe. Tabithah, Tirzah, Harrison, Free, Miriam and other family members will transport you to days of old and make you think of your people, irrespective of how your family tree is constructed.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc of this book.

This is hard to me to rate. I think it’s a great book and story but I also think I’m disappointed? Feel like I was promised one thing and it didn’t quite deliver.

While I do think the book is really good, it left me wishing I knew what happened to the families in the time periods we didn’t hear from them. 4.5/5

Morgan Jerkins’ Zeal is a powerful, time-bending tapestry that explores the enduring weight of history and the transformative power of love. Spanning from the post–Civil War South to modern-day Harlem, Jerkins masterfully bridges two timelines to tell a deeply human story of legacy, longing, and reclamation.

At the heart of Zeal are Harrison and Tirzah, two young Black lovers whose lives are fractured by the chaos of Reconstruction-era Mississippi. Their story is one of resistance against the violence of a broken system, and their love becomes both a sanctuary and a battleground. Jerkins captures their devotion with poignant detail, offering a window into the emotional and political struggles of a generation striving to build lives out of the ashes of slavery.

Fast-forward to 2019, and the narrative picks up with Ardelia and Oliver, a couple in Harlem whose discovery of an old letter from Tirzah to Harrison sparks a journey into the past. As they unravel their possible familial ties to these historical figures, Ardelia and Oliver confront their own relationship and identity with fresh urgency. The modern timeline doesn’t simply echo the past—it converses with it, creating a story that feels both epic and intimately grounded.

What makes Zeal stand out is Jerkins’ ability to thread history through her characters' bloodlines in a way that feels alive. Her prose is lyrical without being overwrought, and her characters—especially the women—are drawn with fierce sensitivity and strength. The dual timelines never feel disjointed; rather, they complement and enrich each other, each era shedding light on the other’s triumphs and failures.

Jerkins doesn’t shy away from the painful truths of American history, but she also insists on Black joy, Black love, and the resilience of cultural memory. There’s something cathartic about the way she allows her characters—past and present—to reclaim their stories, refusing to let them be lost in the margins of history.

Zeal is a rare kind of novel: historical fiction that feels urgent, contemporary fiction that honors the past. It’s as much a love story as it is a meditation on the echoes of history and the ties that bind across time. Morgan Jerkins has given us a story that aches, heals, and ultimately inspires.

Rating: ★★★★★

Can you imagine finding the love of your life, being separated from them by forces outside of your control (read: symptoms of white supremacy)… and not knowing when/if you’ll ever see them again? Then on top of that, now your descendants have to deal with the lingering consequences of what happened between you two over 100 years later? 😭😭😭🤧💔 omg this book broke my heart but it was stunninggggg. I literally could not put this book down.

From start to finish, you get fully immersed into this gut wrenching multigenerational story about how love transcends time and geographical location, and you’re forced to reckon with the “what ifs” right alongside many of the characters. It was a terrifying read at times, but it reminded me that even in the midst of the violence and pain our ancestors endured, we still loved and were loved. Ugh!! I feel like the synopsis is accurate, but reading it is just a next level experience because you leave with so much more than what’s expected. My only complaint is how one of the descendants was moving towards the end, but I’ll just leave that there lol.

Just read this book y’all!!!!

The latest novel by Morgan Jerkins is focused on love throughout time, space, and circumstance. Full of well-researched history, Zeal explores the intergenerational legacies of slavery and the love and joy that persist throughout.

THIS STORY, THIS STORY, THIS STORY!! If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would! All I’d wanted to do with my time once I began reading, was to consume this book - I couldn’t put it down. Beautifully written from start to finish - and whew, that finish. TEARS, I tell you. What an incredible story of love transcending over time. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me the privilege of reading this ARC. This story will stay with me for a long time.

5/5 stars

Where do I begin, this is another top read for me for 2025. This is my first novel by this author, and it will not be my last!
Zeal is a multigenerational story that intertwines historical fiction, family legacy, romance, and more.
The story begins in 2019 Harlem with Ardelia and Oliver celebrating their engagement. A love letter from Oliver to Ardelia sets off a series of events that unravel family secrets spanning over a century.
The story then goes from past to present, diving into the relationship between Harrison and Tirzah and everyone in between, painting the picture of the Great Migration and highlighting the ripple effects of past choices on the future generations.
And the ending….beautiful.
I don’t want to go into too many details because this novel is a must read and also be mindful of the trigger warnings.

pretty cool and well written story. The characters were excellent, the story told was great, and the prose was effective. I did feel there were too many POVs, but in general it was pretty good. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

Harlem, 2019. Ardelia and Oliver are hosting their engagement party. As the guests get ready to leave, he hands her a love letter on a yellowing, crumbling piece of paper . . .

Natchez, 1865. Discharged from the Union Army as a free man after the war’s end, Harrison returns to Mississippi to reunite with the woman he loves, Tirzah. Upon his arrival at the Freedmen’s Bureau, though, he catches the eye of a woman working there, who’s determined to thwart his efforts to find his beloved. After tragedy strikes, Harrison resigns himself to a life with her.

Meanwhile in Louisiana, the newly free Tirzah is teaching at a freedmen’s school, and discovers an advertisement in the local paper looking for her. Though she knows Harrison must have placed it, and longs to find him, the risks of fleeing are too great, and Tirzah chooses the life of seeming security right in front of her.

Spanning over a hundred and fifty years, Morgan Jerkins’s extraordinary novel intertwines the stories of these star-crossed lovers and their descendants. As Tirzah's family moves across the country during the Great Migration, they challenge authority with devastating consequences, while of the legacy of heartbreak and loss continues on in the lives of Harrison's progeny.

When Ardelia meets Oliver, she finds his family’s history is as full of secrets and omissions as her own. Could their connection be a cosmic reconciliation satisfying the unfulfilled desires of their ancestors, or will the weight of the past, present and future tear them apart?

Sweeping, textured, and meticulously researched, Zeal is both a story of how one generation’s choices reverberate through the years and an indelible portrait of an enduring love.

My take:
As defined by Oxford Languages, zeal is "great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective." In the context of this book, the zealousness comes across when two souls find each other through their decedent's, even when a confluence of events keep them waiting until next time-cue Erykah Badu. If the synopsis of the book is intriguing, please know that Jerkins fulfills the book's promise and then some. I read the advanced reader copy of the book (my thanks to Netgalley), which did not include notes. With the historical references within the book, I plan on picking up a physical copy- I would love to read what sources influenced this book and can completely see this being adapted for the screen: it is epic in scope and completely cinematic. Further, this book is perfect for group discussion-especially now.

This multi-generational story, spanning from the end of the Civil War all the way through the pandemic, touched my heart. We meet Tirzah and Harrison, two lovers who long to be reunited after the war. From there, the narrative weaves through the lives of their descendants in the most brilliant, beautiful way. The interconnection of stories and characters was absolutely stunning. Thank you HarperCollins for the eARC!