From the Publisher
Moving…In gorgeous, compassionate prose, Perkins-Valdez continues our national conversation about people working together to heal our communities.” — Washington Post
“A powerful novel inspired by our nation’s past…a tale of individual loves, longings, and losses bound together by the healing balm of hope. Perkins-Valdez truly captures the American spirit.” — New York Journal of Books
“Elegantly crafted …captures the fierce energy, diversity, and suffering of Civil War-era Chicago…Perkins-Valdez moves gracefully among her three protagonists’ viewpoints as they struggle to claim their authentic gifts and free themselves of the pain of their pasts. Her spare, lyrical voice is unsentimental yet compassionate.” — Publishers Weekly
“A deeply moving, beautifully written novel told from the heart.” — USA Today
“From the first page, I fell under the spell of the magical BALM. Powerful characters and exquisite prose bring to life a tumultuous period of American history that still demands our attention…With emotional depth and evocative detail, Dolen Perkins-Valdez has written a beautiful novel I will not soon forget.” — Tara Conklin, New York Times bestselling author of HOUSE GIRL
“Full of love and loss, meaning and mystery, BALM draws you into a world in tumultuous transition. Hold on tight as Dolen Perkins-Valdez weaves a story you have not heard before; one which you will find impossible to forget. ” — Pearl Cleage, author of THINGS I SHOULD HAVE TOLD MY DAUGHTER: LIES, LESSONS AND LOVE AFFAIRS
“In BALM, Dolen Perkins-Valdez effectively reveals the emotional injury suffered by everyone following the Civil War. All of the characters came alive and I cared for them deeply. That, to me, is the best kind of book.” — Kathleen Grissom, author of THE KITCHEN HOUSE
“Dolen Perkins-Valdez is an ambitious writer who looks to the past with a calm gaze and a sympathetic heart. In her new novel BALM, as in her startling debut novel WENCH, the complexity of her characters and visual power of her prose make for riveting reading.” — Valerie Martin, author of THE GHOST OF THE MARY CELESTE
“Gorgeously written…the perfect post-Charleston novel.” — Washington Post
“Fiercely creative and exquisitely rendered...In sweeping prose, Perkins-Valdez transports you to Chicago after the Civil War, with Madge, a freeborn black woman, Sadie, a young white woman, and Hemp, a freedman looking for his wife. Their journeys of love, loss and reconciliation become your journeys. A must read.” — Lalita Tademy, New York Times bestselling author of CANE RIVER and RED RIVER
“Deeply engaging…An important tale of a pivotal time in our nation’s history…A thrilling and deeply satisfying read.” — Hope Wabuke, The Root
“Dolen Perkins-Valdez writes with extraordinary beauty.” — Savannah Morning News
“Perkins-Valdez deftly weaves her characters’ longings with the gritty realities of American life after war’s devastations…No sophomore slump is in evidence here. Readers who were captivated by Perkins-Valdez’s first novel, Wench, will be intrigued by the post-Civil War lives of three Southern transplants to Chicago.” — Library Journal
Kathleen Grissom
In BALM, Dolen Perkins-Valdez effectively reveals the emotional injury suffered by everyone following the Civil War. All of the characters came alive and I cared for them deeply. That, to me, is the best kind of book.
Pearl Cleage
Full of love and loss, meaning and mystery, BALM draws you into a world in tumultuous transition. Hold on tight as Dolen Perkins-Valdez weaves a story you have not heard before; one which you will find impossible to forget.
USA Today
A deeply moving, beautifully written novel told from the heart.
Washington Post
Moving…In gorgeous, compassionate prose, Perkins-Valdez continues our national conversation about people working together to heal our communities.
Valerie Martin
Dolen Perkins-Valdez is an ambitious writer who looks to the past with a calm gaze and a sympathetic heart. In her new novel BALM, as in her startling debut novel WENCH, the complexity of her characters and visual power of her prose make for riveting reading.
Lalita Tademy
Fiercely creative and exquisitely rendered...In sweeping prose, Perkins-Valdez transports you to Chicago after the Civil War, with Madge, a freeborn black woman, Sadie, a young white woman, and Hemp, a freedman looking for his wife. Their journeys of love, loss and reconciliation become your journeys. A must read.
Tara Conklin
From the first page, I fell under the spell of the magical BALM. Powerful characters and exquisite prose bring to life a tumultuous period of American history that still demands our attention…With emotional depth and evocative detail, Dolen Perkins-Valdez has written a beautiful novel I will not soon forget.
New York Journal of Books
A powerful novel inspired by our nation’s past…a tale of individual loves, longings, and losses bound together by the healing balm of hope. Perkins-Valdez truly captures the American spirit.
Washington Post
Moving…In gorgeous, compassionate prose, Perkins-Valdez continues our national conversation about people working together to heal our communities.
USA Today
A deeply moving, beautifully written novel told from the heart.
Savannah Morning News
Dolen Perkins-Valdez writes with extraordinary beauty.
Hope Wabuke
Deeply engaging…An important tale of a pivotal time in our nation’s history…A thrilling and deeply satisfying read.
Library Journal
04/15/2015
When Madge, a freeborn black woman from Tennessee skilled in the art of making healing ointments, teas, and balms from herbs and bark, takes a maid's position with Sadie, an unhappy, white widow in Chicago who speaks with the dead, both women are hesitant to reveal their secrets, remembering past hurts. The two main male characters are equally troubled. Sadie's doctor friend, Michael, is racked with guilt over not enlisting during the Civil War, and Hemp, a former slave, has to fight off his feelings of attraction to Madge while he searches for his wife, who was sold off before the war. In their individual ways, they are all walking wounded—in need of spiritual soothing. The author deftly weaves her characters' longings with the gritty realities of American life after war's devastations. VERDICT No sophomore slump is in evidence here. Readers who were captivated by Perkins-Valdez's first novel, Wench, will be intrigued by the post-Civil War lives of three Southern transplants to Chicago. [See Prepub Alert, 11/10/14.]—Laurie Cavanaugh, Holmes P.L., Halifax, MA
JULY 2015 - AudioFile
Lisa Renee Pitts narrates this moving audiobook with a deliberate pace and arduously precise pronunciation. Although her tempo doesn’t enliven the production, it may be fitting for the story of three people who strive to find their identities amid difficult circumstances in post-Civil-War Chicago. Sadie is a white woman who is widowed immediately after her unhappy marriage to a near stranger. Pitts portrays her without embellishment, except for her near hysteria as she discovers her ability to communicate with the dead. Pitts provides more depth for Madge, an unsophisticated free black woman from Tennessee with a gift for healing, and Hemp, a former Kentucky slave who is seeking his lost wife. As their lives intertwine, they begin to rely on each other, and their healing begins. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
