Holler, Child by Latoya Watkins
THE 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2023 by Time Magazine #38
Latoya Watkins follows up her 2022 debut novel Perish with Holler, Child, a poignant collection about the loves, losses, and struggles of a Black community in West Texas. Consisting of 11 short stories, the book confronts both the joy and the heartbreak of living—motherhood, betrayals, love affairs, racism, and death are all recurrent themes. Watkins tells the stories of a single mother who reckons with the idea that her son may be capable of the same sexual violence that brought him into the world, a pair of sisters who search for their estranged brother, and a wife who seeks to spite her husband by lavishing their children with love. Throughout it all, Watkins plumbs the depths of our emotions with compassion and nuance, offering a complex understanding of the human condition. —Cady Lang
