Book Review: "Perris, California" by Rachel Stark

“Each other is the whole of what we’ve got. People are there for us to love. It ain’t the other way around. It’s the greatest and most excruciating gift of life.”

Rachel Stark’s debut is bleak, beautiful, and complex, and so well-told.

Abandoned by her mother, Tessa endures an abusive life living with her stepfather and stepbrother. The only saving grace is her friendship with Mel, one of her high school classmates. The two young women are drawn together, each suffering from their own losses and hardships, until Mel is sent away by her mother, forcing Tessa to survive on her own.

One night when the abuse is too much to bear, Tessa finds refuge at the home of Angie, her husband Buck, and their sons. Angie knows the truth of what Tessa endured, but vows to keep it a secret. Years later, Tessa has married Angie’s son Henry, and they’re raising two children (with one on the way), living in a trailer on Angie’s property.

One day, Tessa discovers that Mel has returned to Perris to move back in with her mother and work as a pharmacist. Seeing Mel again stirs up all of the old emotions for Tessa, but at the same time, she knows that her life is with Henry and their children. But she is haunted by memories of their relationship, as well as the abuse she endured and her mother’s abandonment. It’s also hard to endure Angie’s need to be involved in every aspect of their lives.

The book shifts between past and present, and alternates POVs. There are lots of triggers here—sexual assault, physical abuse, accidental death—but at its core, this book is about strength under fire and how we can always find someone to support us through the dark times.