Review: Perish

Perish by LaToya Watkins is an eloquently written debut novel, spanning decades and telling the story of Helen Jean Turner and her descendants. In 1955, a teenage Helen Jean makes a covenant with God and attempts to bury a dark family secret. More than sixty years later, the family reunites to say goodbye to the dying matriarch. In doing so, they are forced to confront the traumas that haunt them.

The novel alternates between four members of the Turner family: Julie B., Helen Jean’s oldest daughter, who lives with Helen Jean and serves as her caretaker; Alex, Helen Jean’s grandson, who works as a police officer while grappling with his own past; Jan (short for January), Julie B.’s second child, who lives in Jerusalem while trying to raise her own children; and Lydia, Helen Jean’s eldest granddaughter, who lives in Dallas and is struggling to have children of her own.

Overall, I would rate this novel with 4.5 out of 5 stars. Though heart-wrenching, Perish tells an important story of intergenerational trauma and complex familial relationships. Watkins craftily interweaves the past with the present. She does so not only by jumping back and forward in time but also by recounting crucial events from multiple perspectives. In this way, readers are able to ascertain a fuller and clearer version of events than any of the characters themselves.

Watkins holds the audience’s attention by slowly revealing the secrets that haunt each character and exploring the subsequent implications of that information (or lack thereof) in the other characters' lives. The novel's ending will leave readers reeling, but it feels especially fitting for the story.

Lastly, though richly and gracefully written, Perish deals with heavy topics such as childhood sexual assault, incest, violence, neglect, and abuse, which some readers may find difficult. I would recommend this novel to mature readers only, and I would add a note of caution even then.