**WINNER OF THE FLAHERTY-DUNNAN FIRST NOVEL PRIZE
FINALIST FOR THE 2014 CHAUTAUQUA PRIZE
One of *Time* Magazine’s "21 Female Authors You Should Be Reading"
Named a Best Book of 2013 by the *Wall Street Journal*
A *New York Times* Editors’ Choice
An *O Magazine* Top Ten Pick**
In early 1800s Tennessee, two men find themselves locked in an intimate power struggle. Richardson, a troubled Revolutionary War veteran, has spent his life fighting not only for his country but also for wealth and status. When the pressures of westward expansion and debt threaten to destroy everything he’s built, he sets Washington, a young man he owns, to work as his breeding sire. Wash, the first member of his family to be born into slavery, struggles to hold onto his only solace: the spirituality inherited from his shamanic mother. As he navigates the treacherous currents of his position, despair and disease lead him to a potent healer named Pallas. Their tender love unfolds against this turbulent backdrop while she inspires him to forge a new understanding of his heritage and his place in it. Once Richardson and Wash find themselves at a crossroads, all three lives are pushed to the brink.
**
### From Booklist
Wrinkle’s debut novel tells the heartrending tale of life on a slave plantation in early nineteenth-century Tennessee, where the lives of two slaves, Wash and Pallas, intersect with that of Richardson, a land baron and Revolutionary War veteran. Richardson acquires Mena, already pregnant with Wash, at auction in 1796. From his earliest years, Mena tells her son stories of her West African homeland, determined that he grow up knowing who his people are. When debt threatens to overwhelm Richardson, who has been dabbling unsuccessfully in western land development, he decides to hire Wash out as a breeder, much like one of his horses, to neighboring slave owners. This proves to be a lucrative enterprise, but one that gradually breaks Wash’s spirit. Until he meets Pallas, a young woman with healing powers who reaches back to his West African roots to help him rise above his harsh surroundings. Wrinkle has written a remarkable first novel, one that will haunt readers with the questions it raises, and the disturbing glimpse it offers into an unfathomable world. --Deborah Donovan
### Review
"A masterly literary work . . . Wrinkle’s novel does not allow us to draw easy correlations but invites us to consider the painful inheritance and implications of such a horrendous moment in American history. Rather than disapproving opprobrium and diatribes, this debut occasions celebration. Haunting, tender and superbly measured, *Wash* is both redemptive and affirming." —**Major Jackson, *New York Times Book Review***
"[An] unflinching, stunningly imagined debut." —***Vanity Fair***
"A marvel. By turns grim and lyrical, heart-wrenching and hopeful." —***People***** (four stars; a *People* Pick)**
"A powerful novel." —***O, the Oprah Magazine***** (one of "Ten Titles to Pick Up Now")**
"The voices of the past can't speak for themselves and must rely on the artists of the future to honor them. It's a profound responsibility and one that Margaret Wrinkle meets in her brilliant novel *Wash*. She shows not only the courage to submerge herself in the Stygian world of plantation slavery but also the grace and sensitivity to bring that world to life . . . Narrative roles are given to Wash, fellow slaves and his succession of masters, creating a dense, hypnotic ensemble of voices similar to the effect achieved in Peter Matthiessen's momentous retelling of the life of a Florida sugar plantation owner, *Shadow Country* . . . It's from patriarchs like Wash as well as like Richardson, Ms. Wrinkle shows, that the U.S. was born." —**Sam Sacks, *The Wall Street Journal***
"Amazing . . . Never has a fictionalized window into the relationship between slave and master opened onto such believable territory . . . *Wash* unfolds like a dreamy, impressionistic landscape . . . [A] luminous book." —***Atlanta Journal Constitution***
"A lyrical story of courageous human beings transcending the cruelty and degradation of their slave-holding society." —***The Dallas Morning News***
"The history of the South provides plenty of tense, complicated material. Even subjects we think we know well can often reveal new stories in the hands of a talented author. Margaret Wrinkle's debut novel *Wash* is one of those stories." —***Jackson Free Press***
"[A] profound debut novel that takes readers on a journey into a past that left an inevitable mark in America’s history . . . *Wash* is a powerfully haunting tale about the captor and captive. It offers a look at both through their own narrative form expressing their true feeling." —***Birmingham Times***
"*Wash* achieves something extraordinary: a full-fledged confrontation with one of the most difficult aspects of our nation’s history. . . . Wrinkle has given us an honest and important expression of hope . . . a firm foothold that leads in the direction of truth and reconciliation. We would do well to take this step." —***The Post and Courier***
"[Wrinkle] plumbs beyond the brutality and into the wisdom of the ages to compose an elegiac yet surprisingly uplifting portrait of the resilience of the human spirit. . . . *Wash* is a solemn and magnificent paean to the survival—even amid the most crushing, inhumane conditions—of the special and eternal essence within every soul." —**Shelf Awareness**
"In this deeply researched, deeply felt debut novel, documentarian Wrinkle aims a sure pen at a crucial moment following America’s War of Independence. . . . The novel well evokes the tragedy not only of [its] lovers’ untenable positions, but also that of their master and his fragile country." —***Publishers Weekly***** (starred review)**
"Wrinkle bears witness to the inhumanity of slavery . . . A moving and heart-rending novel." —***Kirkus Reviews***
"Heart-rending . . . Wrinkle has written a remarkable first novel, one that will haunt readers with the questions it raises, and the disturbing glimpse it offers into an unfathomable world." —***Booklist***
"Wrinkle has spotlighted a crucial era in the American experience, writing with grace and intelligence." —**New York Journal of Books**
"Wrinkle masterfully takes us on a powerful journey through the darkest past and present of this country, boldly addressing the chasm of racial divide with the scalpel of a gruesome truth. *Wash* is the epitome of courage and determination to heal the central wound of this culture." —**Malidoma Patrice Somé**, author of *The Healing Wisdom of Africa*
"*Wash* is bold, unflinching, and when finished, certain to haunt the reader for a long, long time." —**Ron Rash**, author of *Serena* and *The Cove*
"Boldly conceived and brilliantly written, Margaret Wrinkle's *Wash* reveals the horrible human predation of slavery and its nest of nightmares. With a truthfulness even beyond Faulkner, Wrinkle makes her novelistic debut in a monumental work of unflinching imagination." —**Sena Jeter Naslund**, author of *Ahab’s Wife, Four Spirits, Abundance,* and *Adam and Eve*
"Margaret Wrinkle’s *Wash* is a marvelous window into the world of nineteenth century American slavery—a powerful fusion of knowledge and imagination." —**Madison Smartt Bell**, author of *All Souls Rising, Master of the Crossroads,* and *The Stone that the Builder Refused*
"A significant and hugely troubling book." —**Pinckney Benedict**, author of *Miracle Boy, Town Smokes, The Wrecking Yard,* and *Dogs of God*
"This majestic, beautifully-written novel will both break your heart and make it wiser." —**Charles Gaines**, author of *Stay Hungry, Pumping Iron, A Family Place,* and *The Next Valley Over*
"This exquisite novel is a gift of healing. It exposes the dark and fearsome sin that stains our history, and confronts the guilt that lurks in our collective American soul. But in the genius of the telling we are led to the tenderness at the bone, the humanity at the core, and buoyed by joy." —**Beverly Swerling**, author of *Bristol House*
"A unique and powerful story, *Wash* tells a chapter of our past that we would rather look away from. Margaret Wrinkle makes sure that we cannot. Her whole life has led up to this book, and she writes it in a sure and captivating voice, augmented by her remarkable pictures." —**Kevin Baker**, author of *Strivers Row, Dreamland,* and *Paradise Alley*
Description:
**WINNER OF THE FLAHERTY-DUNNAN FIRST NOVEL PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE 2014 CHAUTAUQUA PRIZE One of *Time* Magazine’s "21 Female Authors You Should Be Reading" Named a Best Book of 2013 by the *Wall Street Journal* A *New York Times* Editors’ Choice An *O Magazine* Top Ten Pick** In early 1800s Tennessee, two men find themselves locked in an intimate power struggle. Richardson, a troubled Revolutionary War veteran, has spent his life fighting not only for his country but also for wealth and status. When the pressures of westward expansion and debt threaten to destroy everything he’s built, he sets Washington, a young man he owns, to work as his breeding sire. Wash, the first member of his family to be born into slavery, struggles to hold onto his only solace: the spirituality inherited from his shamanic mother. As he navigates the treacherous currents of his position, despair and disease lead him to a potent healer named Pallas. Their tender love unfolds against this turbulent backdrop while she inspires him to forge a new understanding of his heritage and his place in it. Once Richardson and Wash find themselves at a crossroads, all three lives are pushed to the brink. ** ### From Booklist Wrinkle’s debut novel tells the heartrending tale of life on a slave plantation in early nineteenth-century Tennessee, where the lives of two slaves, Wash and Pallas, intersect with that of Richardson, a land baron and Revolutionary War veteran. Richardson acquires Mena, already pregnant with Wash, at auction in 1796. From his earliest years, Mena tells her son stories of her West African homeland, determined that he grow up knowing who his people are. When debt threatens to overwhelm Richardson, who has been dabbling unsuccessfully in western land development, he decides to hire Wash out as a breeder, much like one of his horses, to neighboring slave owners. This proves to be a lucrative enterprise, but one that gradually breaks Wash’s spirit. Until he meets Pallas, a young woman with healing powers who reaches back to his West African roots to help him rise above his harsh surroundings. Wrinkle has written a remarkable first novel, one that will haunt readers with the questions it raises, and the disturbing glimpse it offers into an unfathomable world. --Deborah Donovan ### Review "A masterly literary work . . . Wrinkle’s novel does not allow us to draw easy correlations but invites us to consider the painful inheritance and implications of such a horrendous moment in American history. Rather than disapproving opprobrium and diatribes, this debut occasions celebration. Haunting, tender and superbly measured, *Wash* is both redemptive and affirming." —**Major Jackson, *New York Times Book Review*** "[An] unflinching, stunningly imagined debut." —***Vanity Fair*** "A marvel. By turns grim and lyrical, heart-wrenching and hopeful." —***People***** (four stars; a *People* Pick)** "A powerful novel." —***O, the Oprah Magazine***** (one of "Ten Titles to Pick Up Now")** "The voices of the past can't speak for themselves and must rely on the artists of the future to honor them. It's a profound responsibility and one that Margaret Wrinkle meets in her brilliant novel *Wash*. She shows not only the courage to submerge herself in the Stygian world of plantation slavery but also the grace and sensitivity to bring that world to life . . . Narrative roles are given to Wash, fellow slaves and his succession of masters, creating a dense, hypnotic ensemble of voices similar to the effect achieved in Peter Matthiessen's momentous retelling of the life of a Florida sugar plantation owner, *Shadow Country* . . . It's from patriarchs like Wash as well as like Richardson, Ms. Wrinkle shows, that the U.S. was born." —**Sam Sacks, *The Wall Street Journal*** "Amazing . . . Never has a fictionalized window into the relationship between slave and master opened onto such believable territory . . . *Wash* unfolds like a dreamy, impressionistic landscape . . . [A] luminous book." —***Atlanta Journal Constitution*** "A lyrical story of courageous human beings transcending the cruelty and degradation of their slave-holding society." —***The Dallas Morning News*** "The history of the South provides plenty of tense, complicated material. Even subjects we think we know well can often reveal new stories in the hands of a talented author. Margaret Wrinkle's debut novel *Wash* is one of those stories." —***Jackson Free Press*** "[A] profound debut novel that takes readers on a journey into a past that left an inevitable mark in America’s history . . . *Wash* is a powerfully haunting tale about the captor and captive. It offers a look at both through their own narrative form expressing their true feeling." —***Birmingham Times*** "*Wash* achieves something extraordinary: a full-fledged confrontation with one of the most difficult aspects of our nation’s history. . . . Wrinkle has given us an honest and important expression of hope . . . a firm foothold that leads in the direction of truth and reconciliation. We would do well to take this step." —***The Post and Courier*** "[Wrinkle] plumbs beyond the brutality and into the wisdom of the ages to compose an elegiac yet surprisingly uplifting portrait of the resilience of the human spirit. . . . *Wash* is a solemn and magnificent paean to the survival—even amid the most crushing, inhumane conditions—of the special and eternal essence within every soul." —**Shelf Awareness** "In this deeply researched, deeply felt debut novel, documentarian Wrinkle aims a sure pen at a crucial moment following America’s War of Independence. . . . The novel well evokes the tragedy not only of [its] lovers’ untenable positions, but also that of their master and his fragile country." —***Publishers Weekly***** (starred review)** "Wrinkle bears witness to the inhumanity of slavery . . . A moving and heart-rending novel." —***Kirkus Reviews*** "Heart-rending . . . Wrinkle has written a remarkable first novel, one that will haunt readers with the questions it raises, and the disturbing glimpse it offers into an unfathomable world." —***Booklist*** "Wrinkle has spotlighted a crucial era in the American experience, writing with grace and intelligence." —**New York Journal of Books** "Wrinkle masterfully takes us on a powerful journey through the darkest past and present of this country, boldly addressing the chasm of racial divide with the scalpel of a gruesome truth. *Wash* is the epitome of courage and determination to heal the central wound of this culture." —**Malidoma Patrice Somé**, author of *The Healing Wisdom of Africa* "*Wash* is bold, unflinching, and when finished, certain to haunt the reader for a long, long time." —**Ron Rash**, author of *Serena* and *The Cove* "Boldly conceived and brilliantly written, Margaret Wrinkle's *Wash* reveals the horrible human predation of slavery and its nest of nightmares. With a truthfulness even beyond Faulkner, Wrinkle makes her novelistic debut in a monumental work of unflinching imagination." —**Sena Jeter Naslund**, author of *Ahab’s Wife, Four Spirits, Abundance,* and *Adam and Eve* "Margaret Wrinkle’s *Wash* is a marvelous window into the world of nineteenth century American slavery—a powerful fusion of knowledge and imagination." —**Madison Smartt Bell**, author of *All Souls Rising, Master of the Crossroads,* and *The Stone that the Builder Refused* "A significant and hugely troubling book." —**Pinckney Benedict**, author of *Miracle Boy, Town Smokes, The Wrecking Yard,* and *Dogs of God* "This majestic, beautifully-written novel will both break your heart and make it wiser." —**Charles Gaines**, author of *Stay Hungry, Pumping Iron, A Family Place,* and *The Next Valley Over* "This exquisite novel is a gift of healing. It exposes the dark and fearsome sin that stains our history, and confronts the guilt that lurks in our collective American soul. But in the genius of the telling we are led to the tenderness at the bone, the humanity at the core, and buoyed by joy." —**Beverly Swerling**, author of *Bristol House* "A unique and powerful story, *Wash* tells a chapter of our past that we would rather look away from. Margaret Wrinkle makes sure that we cannot. Her whole life has led up to this book, and she writes it in a sure and captivating voice, augmented by her remarkable pictures." —**Kevin Baker**, author of *Strivers Row, Dreamland,* and *Paradise Alley*