LOVE SONG is an epic that chronicles the ancestry of an American family. With intimate prose and luminous writing, Jeffers depicts indigenous peoples and their connections to the ancestral land, the brutality of the slave trade and the resilience of those in bondage, and the Civil War unrest followed by the ensuing era of the Civil Rights movement.

The book follows two narratives, starting with indigenous people and their displacements by the colonizers, all the way to Samual Pinchard, an enslaver and plantation owner. The "Songs" portion portrays harrowing details of severed connections — losing one's land, culture, and family.

The second narration follows Ailey Garfield, a black woman who grew up in Chicasetta, a rural Georgia town where her family resided for generations. Ailey's difficulty fitting in and forming connections is exasperated by her childhood trauma. As she navigates young adulthood and grapples with her identity, Ailey finds herself drawn to her family's past. She must now reconcile the tumultuous history behind her family's history to find her true self.

LOVE SONG is a masterpiece that covers so much ground it's impossible to discuss them all here. I am particularly drawn to the generational trauma that continues throughout Ailey's maternal ancestors and perpetuates in her generation. The book examines power imbalance, gender inequality, colorism, and social & economic status, and how these play into sustaining the trauma Ailey and her sisters endured growing up. These discussions are explored extensively through different characters and the choices they make.

LOVE SONG is, at times, a demanding read because of the multitude of pain and grief the characters experience. Nonetheless, it's an important book that illustrates the multigenerational heritage of Black Americans and a courageous review of our nation's brutal past of colonialism and slavery.