Named A Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by Essence, Esquire, and The Millions
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; Alex, a police officer grappling with a dark past; Jan, a mother 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.