Perfect Peace

Perfect Peace is a 2010 novel by Daniel Black set in Arkansas in rural Conway County. Exploring southern African American family dynamics, gender expression, and sexuality in the mid-twentieth century, the story follows Perfect Peace, the last child born to Emma Jean Peace and Gus Peace. Emma Jean wanted nothing more than to have a daughter so she could give her the love and devotion she never received from her mother as a child. But after the birth of her seventh child, yet another boy, she realized that the only way she could have a daughter was if she created one. After swearing her midwife to secrecy, Emma Jean presents the new baby girl, Perfect, to the Peace family. For eight years, Perfect was doted on as a daughter and given the best of everything, despite the meager means brought in by the Peace men. However, on her eighth birthday, Perfect learns that her entire identity had been a lie woven together by her desperate mother. 

After having his name changed to Paul Peace, he begins to learn to navigate the same world but under a different gender. He explores intimate relations with his childhood friend, Eva Mae, while battling his desires for his schoolmate, Johnny Ray. He experiences intense physical violence from his boys in his community, as well as the men in his own family who attempt to beat the femininity out of him. Paul is forced to develop his sense of self and manhood as he grieves the loss of the person he once was. At the same time, the rest of the Peace family is pushed to confront their understanding of family, love, and community as they each grow in their own directions. 

Daniel Black is an award-winning author, educator, and beloved interpreter of African diasporic culture and heritage, known for his rhythmic literary style and vivid portrayals of African American life in the rural South. A native of Kansas City, Kansas, he spent his childhood years in Blackwell (Conway County). Black is the winner of the 2014 Distinguished Author of the Year Award from the Mid-Atlantic Writers Association and has also been nominated for the Townsend Literary Prize, Georgia Author of the Year, the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature, and other prestigious awards.  

In 2011, Black was named Author of the Year by the Go On Girl! National Book Club for Perfect Peace. In 2014, the novel was the selection for the “If All Arkansas Read the Same Book” by the Arkansas Center for the Book at the Arkansas State Library. 

Praise for Perfect Peace includes voices such as Pulitzer Prize–winning author Alice Walker, who stated: “It is a gift to have so much passion, so much love, so much beautiful writing so flawlessly faithful to the ancestors who grappled as best they could with much more than they could ever understand.” Kirkus described the novel as “original and earnest, informed by both human limitation and human potential.” New York Times bestselling author Greg Iles said of it: “Daniel Black understands the racial psychology and culture of the South so well that he can show, not tell, and his characters’ actions always ring true. This novel is a powerful exploration of a small group of individuals who hold each other in high regard. The love among members of this family is severely challenged, but the challenge is triumphantly met. Each child grows into manhood and achieves success according to his gifts. Through their lives we experience disappointment and sorrow, but also fulfillment and joy.” 

For additional information:
Black, Daniel. Perfect Peace. New York: St. Martin’s, 2010. 

Review of Perfect Peace. Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2010. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/daniel-black/perfect-peace/ (accessed May 1, 2025). 

Review of Perfect Peace. Publishers Weekly. https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780312582678 (accessed May 1, 2025). 

Shandrea Murphy-Washington
Little Rock, Arkansas