Wench
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez is startling and original fiction that raises provocative questions of power and freedom, love and dependence. An enchanting and unforgettable novel based on little-known fact,
combines the narrative allure of
Cane
River
by Lalita Tademy and the moral complexities of Edward P. Jones’s
The Known World
as it tells the story of four black enslaved women in the years preceding the Civil War. A stunning debut novel,
marks author Perkins-Valdez—previously a finalist for the 2009 Robert Olen Butler Short Fiction Prize—as a writer destined for greatness.