Critical Praise

"Perkins-Valdez memorably portrays how the entwined destinies of chattel and master, increasingly related by blood, passion and hatred, prefigure the looming national conflict. This is an almost forgotten, but important, chapter in American history --- recorded as fiction but nonetheless full of hard facts."

—Town and Country

"Perkins-Valdez manages to shed a poetic light on one of the ugliest chapters in American history."

—Essence

"A heartbreaker, full of understated tragedy and lyrical prose…Perkins-Valdez has woven a devastatingly beautiful account of a cruel past."

—People

"Readers entranced by The Help will be equally riveted by Wench. A deeply moving, beautifully written novel told from the heart."

—USA Today