Okay, so I have very mixed feelings about this one.

The story starts off beautifully. We're introduced to Junius Hart, a Jewish boy growing up in Alabama, who plays the fife and shares a gentle, heartfelt bond with Ruby, the daughter of their household’s enslaved man. Their connection is warm, sweet, and written with such tenderness that it genuinely pulled me in.

But things take a heartbreaking turn. While trying to protect Ruby from being captured, Junius loses her—and much of the novel follows his years-long search to find her again. Through his journey, we see the brutal reality of how Black people were treated during that time in the U.S., and how the Civil War tears through Junius’s life and family. The depiction of how women—especially Black women—were treated is deeply upsetting, but unfortunately, very real to the era.

Then comes the twist. And this is where my feelings got complicated.

Near the end, Junius plans to marry Ruby—only to discover that she was never actually enslaved. Even more shocking, Ruby’s real father is actually Junius’s father, which means she’s his half-sister. And yes, they’d already had a child together. The revelation is disturbing, and though they eventually go their separate ways, it left me feeling deeply uncomfortable. Especially because, while much of the book is based on the author’s great-grandfather, Ruby is a fictional character—so adding this incestuous plotline felt unnecessary and honestly took away from what was otherwise a moving story.

That said, the book did make me cry, and for the most part, I was really invested in it. I just wish the ending had been handled differently.

Thank you, NetGalley and Gary C. Demack for giving me a copy of this book to read.