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. I made you a girl. But that ain't what you was supposed to be. So, from now on, you gon' be a boy. 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, Perfect's life becomes a bizarre kaleidoscope of events--while the rest of his family is forced to question everything they thought they knew about gender, sexuality, unconditional love, and fulfillment."A morality tale of the consequences of letting our selfish needs trap the ones we love into roles they weren't born to play. The characters here are as flawed, their sins numerous, as any living human being held under the lens, but the author brings a compassion and understanding to their plights."--Mat Johnson, award-winning author of Invisible Things"Part cautionary tale, part folk tale, part fable, Daniel Black's Perfect Peace is a complete triumph...In Emma Jean Peace, Dr. Black has created a character as complex, equivocal and unforgettable as Scarlett O'Hara."--Larry Duplechan, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of Got 'Til It's GoneDaniel Black
Daniel Black is an award-winning novelist, professor, and scholar whose work explores Black identity, family, history, spirituality, love, and the complexities of belonging. A native of Kansas, Black was raised in Blackwell, Arkansas, experiences that deeply influence the communities, traditions, and voices found throughout his writing. He is a professor of African American Studies at Clark Atlanta University and holds a doctorate in African American Studies from Temple University.
Black is the author of acclaimed works including *Perfect Peace*, *They Tell Me of a Home*, *The Sacred Place*, *Twelve Gates to the City*, *The Coming*, *Don’t Cry for Me*, and *Black on Black*. His fiction often centers characters confronting questions of identity, generational expectations, family wounds, and what it means to live authentically within—and sometimes beyond—the communities that shaped them.
For readers, Black’s work offers stories that can be deeply personal while speaking to larger conversations about Black life and humanity. His novels invite readers to wrestle with difficult truths, recognize themselves or others with greater compassion, and continue thinking about the characters long after the final page.
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