Description:
Winner of the 2026 Stowe Prize for Literary Activism
Longlisted for the 2026 Aspen Words Literary Prize
One of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Historical Fiction Books of 2025
A Library Journal Best Book of the Year
"A luscious storyteller, Princess Joy L. Perry brings to light the profound moral and emotional dilemmas her characters face, making the reader feel the weight of their impossible choices and everyday courage. A fierce and luminous debut." --Sheri Reynolds, author of The Rapture of Canaan and The Tender Grave
Three people--two enslaved, one indentured--living beside each other, struggling against their circumstances, trying to bend destiny.
Brief description: Princess Joy L. Perry is the recipient of a Virginia Commission for the Arts Fellowship and a winner of a Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Award. Her short stories have appeared in All About Skin, African American Review, and Kweli Journal. She lives in Norfolk, Virginia.
Review Quotes: It's hard to believe that this is Perry's first novel, so effectively does it pull readers deep into the lives of its evolving, powerful, multifaceted characters... Readers who enjoy the work of either [Zora Neale] Hurston or [Richard] Wright will love this novel.--Laura Ellis, Library Journal, starred review