📚 🅱🅾🅾🅺 🆁🅴🆅🅸🅴🆆📚
𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Zeal
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Morgan Jerkins
𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿: Harper Books (April 22, 2025)

Thank you to @harperbooks for the gifted copy and @harperaudio for the ALC.

Morgan Jerkins returns with 𝙕𝙚𝙖𝙡, a sweeping, multi-generational novel that explores the legacy of slavery, the weight of ancestral memory, and the redemptive power of love. I devoured this in a day, but its layered storytelling lingered long after.

Set between Harlem in 2019 and the Reconstruction-era South, 𝙕𝙚𝙖𝙡 follows the star-crossed love of Harrison and Tirzah—two newly freed individuals whose paths diverge under the weight of survival and systemic oppression. Their choices ripple through generations, culminating in the modern-day romance of Ardelia and Oliver.

Jerkins weaves timelines and voices with care, showing how trauma, longing, and resilience are passed down like heirlooms. While I found it lacked some of the intimacy that made 𝘾𝙖𝙪𝙡 𝘽𝙖𝙗𝙮 unforgettable, 𝙕𝙚𝙖𝙡 remains a powerful meditation on love, loss, and legacy.

It asks: Can present-day love heal the wounds of the past? Or are we forever shaped by what our ancestors could not resolve?

🅼🅴🅼🅾🆁🅰🅱🅻🅴 🆀🆄🅾🆃🅴🆂:
* “Love is not just what we feel in the moment. It’s what we inherit, what we carry, and what we choose to pass on.”
* “Even when the names are forgotten, the ache remembers.”

🅲🅴🅽🆃🆁🅰🅻 🆃🅷🅴🅼🅴🆂:
* Ancestral Threads and Living Memory
* Love as a Bridge Between Wounds and Wholeness
* The Long Shadow of Slavery

🅾🆃🅷🅴🆁 🅿🅾🆆🅴🆁🅵🆄🅻 🆁🅴🅲🅾🅼🅼🅴🅽🅳🅰🆃🅸🅾🅽🆂:
* Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
* The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
* Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🏷 #MorganJerkins #Zeal #HarperBooks #HistoricalFiction #BlackLiterature #CandiceReads #HaleYeahBooks #BookReview #Bookstagram #ReadBlackAuthors #CaulBaby #MultigenerationalStorytelling #WellReadBlackGirl #DiversifyYourBookshelf

Zeal by Morgan Jerkins is a beautifully crafted historical fiction novel perfect for folks who loved the film Sinners and/or want to understand how our past as Black Americans affects our lives in the present.

At its core, this is a multi-generation story about love. We have Ardelia and Oliver who just got engaged in 2019 but struggle to hold onto one another as the stress of wedding planning AND Oliver's work at the hospital becomes overwhelming. We also follow the lives of Tirzah and Harrison, a couple separated by the Civil War and subsequent white violence, who's unfulfilled life-long yearning (or zeal, lol) for one another casts a shadow over their descendent's lives for generations.

As I listened to the audiobook, I couldn't help but marvel at Jerkins's clear-eyed approach to telling these stories as well as her dedication to in-depth research! It made me want to look up places like Nicodemus, Kansas and learn more about Black American migration. I hope it does the same for everyone who reads Zeal!

This is the first novel I've read that depicts life during the coronavirus outbreak in the United States and I feel like Jerkins did a fantastic job of capturing how terrifying an traumatizing those first two years of the pandemic were. Some authors have chosen not to include it in their works for various reasons that I totally understand but as much as Zeal is about love, it's also about healing wounds. As some know, we cannot heal a wound without inspecting it to prevent further infection.
I hope more people read this novel and take care while doing so. Morgan Jerkins deserves her flowers!

Morgan Jerkins continues to show her talent for storytelling in this postbellum historical fiction set in the South and Midwest. Zeal is a beautifully-told multi-generational epic about two lovers broken up by the Civil War and each of their descendants. This book is for the lovers of Southern Fiction and Domestic Fiction. The release is extremely timely with the release of the blockbuster hit Sinners. Great complimentary read if Ryan Coogler's latest movie has you wanting more.

ZEAL by @_morganjerkins is everything I love about historical fiction. The story is absolutely breathtaking from start to finish. The characters (!!!), the dual timelines, the depth of research, the rich storytelling—I was captivated by every damn word! I especially loved the dual timelines and haven’t stopped thinking about these characters since. Without a doubt, this will be one of my top reads of 2025!⁣
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If ZEAL isn’t on your TBR yet, I highly recommend adding it. Preorder now—you won’t regret it! I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy. ⁣
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Given the time period (1865), there are definite trigger warnings, and Morgan does not shy away from the hard realities. Her delivery is immaculate.

I loved most of this book but was disappointed with the ending. The author tackled a lot in weaving together this multigenerational story, and despite the audiobook’s 13-hour length, the conclusion felt rushed. I also struggled to keep track of all the characters introduced near the end and weren't developed well. However, I would still recommend this book and look forward to reading more from this author.