Bear it or Perish. Those are the words Helen Jean hears that fateful night in her cousin's outhouse that changes the trajectory of her life.  Spanning decades, PERISH tracks the choices Helen Jean-the matriarch of the Turner family-makes and the way those choices have ripped across generations, from her children, to her grandchildren and beyond.Told in in alternate chapters that follows four members of the Turner clan: Julie B., a woman who regrets her wasted youth and the time spent under Helen Jean's thumb; Alex, a police officer grappling with a dark and twisted past; Jan, mother of two, who yearns to go to school and leave Jerusalem and all of its trauma behind for good; and Lydia, a woman whose marriage is falling apart because her body can't seem to stay pregnant; as they're called home to say goodbye to their mother and grandmother. This family's