![]() ![]() I can't wait to see what she writes next. She is chair of the Board of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation Board of Directors. ![]() If you are new to Dolen Perkins-Valdez as I was, remedy yourself of that immediately and pick up both of her books. Wench (2010) Balm (2015) Dolen Perkins-Valdez is an American writer, best known for her debut novel Wench: A Novel (2010), which became a bestseller. The world created in Balm is one where hope leaves alongside loss, and love co-mingles with despair. ![]() Sadie communing with the dead and Madge's magical hands feel natural within the world Perkins-Valdez has created. She weaves in supernatural elements so seamlessly, that you barely raise an eyebrow. Perkins-Valdez imagines that time, and does so with a meticulous attention to detail. Dolen Perkins-Valdez is the New York Times bestselling author of Wench and Balm. I have often wondered how America made that transition, and what that transition looked like for people, particularly former slaves in their daily lives. I don't think I've ever read a book set immediately post slavery before. When I began reading Balm, part of me was yearning for a sequel to the stories of the women left behind in Wench and while I was initially sad to realize that was not the case, that disappointment lasted but a second before I was swept up by a whole new host of characters: Sadie, Madge and Hemp. ![]()
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