Wench: A Novel

Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s enchanting and unforgettable novel, based on little-known fact, combines the narrative allure of Cane River by Lalita Tademy and the moral complexities of Edward P. Jones’s The Known World as it tells the story of four black enslaved women in the years preceding the Civil War—now available in a limited Olive edition.

wench \'wench\ n. from Middle English “wenchel,”1 a: a girl, maid, young woman; a female child.

Situated in Ohio, a free t…