This novel made me question everything that I associate with gender and sexuality ~ what does it mean to be a girl or to be a boy? Can one’s gender be changed by nature or nurture? No member of the Peace family remains unscathed by this tragedy and Black does a wonderful job of exploring the hurt and rage that the revelation of the truth provokes. But it’s not just the emotional, physical and psychological damage that is done to Perfect that begs to be examined, it’s the damage that was been done to Emma Jean in her past that made me pity her. Bouncing back and forth between a call~and~response type pattern with flashes forward into the future and tumbles into the past, this is an emotionally charged narrative that will leave you wondering why?Įmma Jean’s desire for a daughter was born of her own need to feel loved, wanted and needed ( an overall theme in this book, which is why I think the characters in this book are so relatable). From the moment the first sentence began until the last sentence ended, my heart felt as if it were folding in on itself. in African American Studies from Temple University then returned to Clark Atlanta as a professor with hopes of inspiring young black minds to believe in themselves. ~ ĭANIEL OMOTOSHO BLACK teaches at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia. Meanwhile, the Peace family is forced to question everything they thought they knew about gender, sexuality, unconditional love, and fulfillment. It’ll be a little strange at first, but you’ll get used to it, and this’ll be over after while.” From this point forward, his life becomes a bizarre kaleidoscope of events. But that ain’t what you was supposed to be. When the seventh child of the Peace family, named Perfect, turns eight, her mother Emma Jean tells her bewildered daughter, “You was born a boy. The heartbreaking portrait of a large, rural southern family’s attempt to grapple with their mother’s desperate decision to make her newborn son into the daughter she will never have

Perfect peace novel by daniel black