Daniel Black’s novel Perfect Peace has a startling premise: A mother so wants a daughter that she decides to raise her youngest son as a girl, to the ultimate dismay of her large, rural family. Emma Jean wants to shower her daughter with all the love she never received; instead she strips her son of his identity. Paul becomes Perfect, only to have his true identity revealed when he’s eight years old. Overnight, Perfect is forced to become Paul again, leaving his six brothers (who have offbeat names such as King Solomon, Mister and Authorly) reeling, with his own self-image damaged perhaps beyond repair.
Set in 1930s rural Arkansas, Perfect Peace is alternately heartbreaking and awe-inspiring. The devastation Emma Jean so freely wreaks on her loved ones in order to satisfy her own unmet needs is appalling. Paul’s confusion as he moves from the soft, sheltered female world to the hard, brutal male existence is tragic. But the strength Paul shows as he moves forward, despite his grotesque beginnings, is a thing of wonder.
During today’s An Afternoon with Daniel Black session, the author reads from and discusses Perfect Peace. 1 p.m. Houston Public Library, Central, 500 McKinney. For information, call 832-393-1313 or visit www.houstonlibrary.org. Free.
Sat., Feb. 18, 1 p.m., 2012
This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2012.