"Jillian Hensley's account of the 1704 raid on Deerfield, which is central to her story, feels authentic and fully imagined. I have read other accounts of this famous event, but for me this is the most engaging and original." --Frances Kidder "Hensley's Jesuit narrator records his experiences, thoughts and observations in a voice so consistent and believable that one might forget he's fictional. His perspective opens history and, in particular, humanizes missionary activity in the New World--both the good and the bad of it. Respectfully researched and thoughtfully composed In This Strange Soil is a work of grace and integrity."-- Libby Maxey, Editor, Thornapple Press