
Perish
A Novel
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By:
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LaToya Watkins
"Watkins’s prose is effortless and forthright. . .This is an impressive feat of storytelling. . .It’s a difficult read and a tender story of silences and secrets. It’s a novel about coming home, despite that home being broken. And it’s a brave triumph of a novel that readers won’t forget long after finishing it."—New York Times Book Review
Named a Most Anticipated Book of the Year by Good Morning America * Essence* Esquire * The Root * Bustle * Ebony * PopSugar * Ms. * The Millions
From a stunning new voice comes a powerful debut novel, Perish, about a Black Texan family, exploring the effects of inherited trauma and intergenerational violence as the family comes together to say goodbye to their matriarch on her deathbed.
Bear it or perish yourself. Those are the words Helen Jean hears that fateful night in her cousin’s outhouse that change the trajectory of her life.
Spanning decades, Perish tracks the choices Helen Jean—the matriarch of the Turner family—makes and the way those choices have rippled across generations, from her children to her grandchildren and beyond.
Told in alternating chapters, Perish follows four members of the Turner family: Julie B., a woman who regrets her wasted youth and the time spent under Helen Jean’s thumb; Alex, a police officer grappling with a dark and twisted past; Jan, a mother of two who yearns to go to school and leave Jerusalem, Texas, and all of its trauma behind for good; and Lydia, a woman whose marriage is falling apart because her body can’t seem to stay pregnant, as they're called home to say goodbye to their mother and grandmother.
This family’s “reunion” unearths long-kept secrets and forces each member to ask themselves important questions about who is deserving of forgiveness and who bears the cross of blame.
Set in vividly drawn Texas and tackling themes like trauma, legacy, faith, home, class, race, and more, this beautiful yet heart heart-wrenching novel will appeal to anyone who is interested in the intricacies of family and the ways bonds can be made, maintained, or irrevocably broken.
©2022 LaToya Watkins (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
*A Black Caucus of the American Library Association Honor Book for Fiction*
*Named one of BookBub’s “16 Books to Read Over Labor Day Weekend” and Ebony's “Books by Black Authors That Should Be on Your Fall Reading List”*
*Featured in Refinery 29's “As A Young Black Mom, These Are The Books I Want To Pass Along To My Daughter”*
"Watkins’s prose is effortless and forthright. . .This is an impressive feat of storytelling. . .A tender story of silences and secrets. It’s a novel about coming home, despite that home being broken. And it’s a brave triumph of a novel that readers won’t forget long after finishing it."—New York Times Book Review
“Though painful, this beautifully crushing experiment in empathy and brokenness is worth experiencing. Watkins and Tiny Reparations Books have made a bold statement with Perish and will both be worth watching for what comes next.”—Associated Press
"Perish offers a moving look into Black communities, bringing complexity and nuance to this story of intergenerational trauma and the toll it takes on the human spirit. But for all the secrets, resentments, and bitterness here, Watkins has generosity of spirit enough to entertain the possibility of forgiveness; miraculous and moving, light glimmers at the edges of this wise novel."—Esquire
Featured Article: Best of the Year—The 13 Best Debuts of 2022
Looking back, it is hard to ignore the impact made by so many debut novelists in distinguishing 2022’s listening scene. We feel the untapped magic and momentum that radiate from debut novels often generate the buzz that defines a year and creates its most electric literary moments. Ranging from brooding, stormy stories to bubbly, heartfelt listens, these fresh voices each uniquely made a big splash in 2022.
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