Stephen B

Princess Joy L. Perry's This Here Is Love is a complex work of historical fiction set in 17th-century Virginia, a time when the lines between freedom and bondage were brutally drawn. The novel follows three characters—Bless, a young, enslaved woman searching for a sense of agency; David, the son of a freedman desperate to keep his family safe; and Jack, a Scots-Irish indentured servant whose choices blur the line between survival and betrayal.

The book's greatest strength lies in its language. Perry writes with lyrical intensity, often capturing the harsh beauty of Tidewater Virginia in prose that feels both poetic and precise. Her characters are fully human, filled with longing, fear, and flashes of hope, which gives the story a deep emotional pull. Readers will find themselves invested in Bless and David's struggles, in particular, and the ways they fight for dignity in an unforgiving world.

Yet the novel can be difficult to read. The pacing is deliberately slow, and Perry does not shy away from the violence and cruelty of the era. While this honesty gives the book power, it may overwhelm some readers. Ultimately, This Here Is Love is moving and ambitious, though not always easy to embrace.