The Perishing

The Perishing follows Lou, a Black woman who wakes up in 1930s Los Angeles with no memory of her past. She becomes the first Black female journalist at the Los Angeles Times while trying to piece together her identity and understand her connection to the city. Lou discovers she is immortal and has lived multiple lives throughout Los Angeles's history. As she navigates her current life in the 1930s, she encounters both historical events and mysterious circumstances that seem linked to her past incarnations. The story moves between time periods as Lou uncovers more about herself and her role in Los Angeles. She forms relationships with other characters while investigating a series of deaths that may connect to her own immortality. The novel explores themes of memory, identity, and belonging within the context of race and gender in American history. Through Lou's immortal perspective, the narrative examines how the past shapes both individual lives and entire cities.

Readers found The Perishing ambitious but uneven in execution. The novel's nonlinear structure and shifting timelines created confusion for many readers, making it difficult to follow the core narrative. Readers appreciated: - The historical details of 1930s Los Angeles - Strong writing and vivid descriptions - The exploration of identity and memory - Complex themes around race and immortality Common criticisms: - Plot threads left unresolved - Characters feel distant and hard to connect with - Pacing issues, especially in the middle section - Too many competing storylines Review Scores: Goodreads: 3.5/5 (1,000+ ratings) Amazon: 3.7/5 (100+ ratings) Sample reader comments: "Beautiful prose but I felt lost in the story" - Goodreads reviewer "The historical elements shine but the supernatural aspects need development" - Amazon reviewer "Wanted to love it but struggled to stay engaged" - LibraryThing reviewer Many readers noted they needed to re-read sections to understand the time jumps and character connections.

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📚 The novel's protagonist, Lou, is one of several Black immortals who repeatedly awakens in different time periods, always as a 22-year-old woman in Los Angeles 🗞️ Author Natashia Deón worked as a criminal defense attorney before becoming a writer, and her legal background influences the crime narrative elements in the book 🏛️ The story takes place across multiple periods in Los Angeles history, with a particular focus on 1930s LA during the Great Depression and the city's early civil rights movement 🎯 The book's narrative structure moves both forward and backward in time simultaneously, with the main character experiencing memories from both her past and her future lives 🏆 Natashia Deón's previous novel "Grace" won the 2017 First Novel Prize from the American Library Association's Black Caucus and was named a Kirkus Review Best Book of 2016