About the Book
She'd gotten no trigger warning. And her entire life, she wanted to scream now, had deserved a trigger warning.
Early in life, Ruth survived a series of devastating events: Her little brother died from a childhood illness, her mother died of grief, and then her father was shot by the police right in front of their home. In the years following her father's murder, Ruth pushes her past underground. She changes her name and moves to Kentucky, marries a man named Myron, and together they raise a kid. It's been two decades, and she is, by outside measures, living a good life-but why doesn't it feel good? When her marriage comes to a sudden end, their house burns down in the middle of the night, and she learns that her estranged sister has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Ruth is jolted back into action. She flees again, this time back to her home state of California, with her nonbinary teenager in tow, perhaps ready at last to face her pain and retrieve her former self.
Searing, surprisingly witty, and deeply human, Trigger Warning is a novel about the durational aftermath of anti-Black police violence. Through the perspectives of Ruth and Myron, and those of their friends and their child, Townsend explores divorce and desire, the heartbreaking brevity of parenting, the push and pull of old friendships, and the possibility, after incredible trauma, of reconnecting to what makes us feel alive.
About the Author :
Jacinda Townsend is the author of Mother Country, winner of the Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and Saint Monkey, winner of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize and the James Fenimore Cooper Prize. She teaches at Brown University.
Review :
"Townsend explores the decades-long effects of police violence and what it means to survive deep, generational trauma."--Alta Journal
"This novel's experience delivers considerably on rich and earned intensity."--T.E. Lyons, Leo Weekly
"Ruth, the embattled heroine of Jacinda Townsend's irresistible new novel, has endured more tragedy than most mere mortals can stand. When the losses of the past come thundering back, she takes to the road, heartbreak and roaring flames in her rearview mirror. Landscapes may change, she realizes, but grief, like time, is ever-present and unrelenting. Complicated, contradictory, and compelling, Ruth gives the phrase 'ride-or-die' an unforgettable new dimension."--Jabari Asim, author of Yonder
"Jacinda Townsend once again captivates with the intricate tale of the Hurleys--a seemingly ordinary family grappling with deeply buried traumas, fractured relationships, a turbulent divorce, and the complexities of teenage dysphoria. In this searing and unflinching exploration of identity and country, Trigger Warning offers a poignant and profound reminder: a better life is forged by facing each moment with the full spectrum of emotions it demands."--Xochitl Gonzalez, author of Anita de Monte Laughs Last
"Townsend's lush sentences sweep and dive and crawl into the very soul of a reader. In Trigger Warning, she gives us an unleashed salt-of-the-earth Ruth whose regrets are sometimes too hard to carry and whose desires for change, for novelty, for freedom, are immediately recognizable. With deliciously paced revelations, Townsend builds Ruth as a woman with a haunted past whose willingness to embrace a terrifyingly unpredictable future makes her the tough and tender literary heroine we need at this time."--Lauren Francis Sharma
"I became addicted to the characters in Jacinda Townsend's Trigger Warning, each of them so beautifully sculpted, flawed, wonderful, and specific. This is juicy and intelligent fiction about history, family, secrets, and the elusive search for the authentic self."--Asali Solomon, author of Days of Afrekete
"Trigger Warning is a prescient and powerful work that pushes us towards a deeper understanding of ourselves--it's a fantastic read."--S.A. Cosby, author of All the Sinners Bleed
"Townsend's lush sentences sweep and dive and crawl into the very soul of a reader. In Trigger Warning, she gives us an unleashed salt-of-the-earth Ruth whose regrets are sometimes too hard to carry and whose desires for change, for novelty, for freedom, are immediately recognizable. With deliciously paced revelations, Townsend builds Ruth as a woman with a haunted past whose willingness to embrace a terrifyingly unpredictable future makes her the tough and tender literary heroine we need at this time."--Lauren Francis Sharma
"The characters in Jacinda Townsend's Trigger Warning are complicated, messy people that you won't want to turn away from. They are also funny, human, and broken in the ways we all are. This book is both a journey and a reckoning."--Rion Amilcar Scott, author of The World Doesn't Require You
"A woman's early trauma spirals over decades until middle age. . . . Each character's attitudes and actions resonate with authentic observation."--Kirkus Reviews
