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PERISH

LaToya Watkins

Great, new literature in the vein Jesmy Ward, Charles Winslow and Toni Morrison.
PERISH follows four members of the Turner clan: Julie B., Alex, Jan, and Lydia, as they're called home to say goodbye to their mother and grandmother, Helen Jean. Told through alternating chapters, PERISH explores the effects of inherited trauma and intra-generational violence and pain as the 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. With a masterfully composed plot that bears an infernal emotional charge, it is astonishing that PERISH is only Latoya Watkins's very first novel. It is a book that will linger in your mind for a long time, as its reading makes you intimate with the central family's tangled web of concealed and unacknowledged memories. PERISH is a moving and important book, taking up issues of race, generational trauma, familial bonds and their undoings, all explored in Watkins's lucid and caring prose. LaToya Watkins' writing has appeared or is forthcoming in A Public Space, The Sun, McSweeney's, Kenyon Review, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, and elsewhere. She has received grants, scholarships, and fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and A Public Space (she was one of their 2018 Emerging Writers Fellows). She holds a PhD in Aesthetic Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas and is co-director of the Jack Jones Literary Arts Retreat.
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Published 2022-08-23 by Tiny Reparations

Comments

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. Read more...

With Perish, Watkins joins a tradition of Southern writers who delve into the taboo and grotesque to expose a dark past and a dim backtracking present. Like Walker's The Color Purple and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Perish lures readers past the pain with a spellbinding, buoyant use of language Read more...

From the early pages of this novel, I knew I was in the hands of a master storyteller. Watkins stuns in this impressive debut.

Watkins's prose is effortless and forthright. A brave triumph of a novel that readers won't forget long after finishing it. Read more...

"LaToya Watkins is a writer of undeniable talent and her debut novel, PERISH, is a piercing family drama with characters who will stay with you for a long, long time."

In this devastating and gut-wrenching debut, Watkins explores the generational trauma and violence endured by a Black Texas family.. With grace and aplomb, Watkins electrifies and shatters.

I'd be hard-pressed to say what I admire most about La Toya Watkins's debut novel - the nuanced, fully realized characters, the firmly rooted sense of place, or the author's fierce, elegant, and fearless prose. PERISH is a heartrending story, urgently told, about family, trauma, and the salvific power of forgiveness and love. Helen Jean Turner and her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will linger in my heart for a long time. 0

LatToya Watkins writes with a gaze that is warm and compassionate, but courageous and unflinching, refusing to look away from difficulty. Perish is a resonant debut novel. told with beautiful cadences and textures. Watkins has a wonderful heart that animates every page from beginning to end.

Perish offers a moving look into Black communities, bringing complexity and nuance to this story of intergenerational trauma... 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. Read more...

"The love LaToya Watkins has for her characters is evident on every page of this incredibly moving debut. Read Perish with a family member."

Watkins's prose is effortless and forthright... it's a brave triumph of a novel that readers wont forget long after finishing it. Read more...

In this searing debut novel, a Texas family addresses its darkest secrets as its matriarch lies dying... It's a raw but necessary book... This book will serve as a hand extended through the darkness to a great many readers. Read more...