The Team: A Novel

This absorbing debut novel tells the story of Gwen, a driven young Atlanta professional whose world is upended when she learns that a figure from her past, ex-hoops star Xavier Dean, is joining her firm. As Gwen and Xavier slowly develop a mutual attraction, she adamantly hides the fact that ten years before, she was brutally raped by his friend and teammate. As her relationship with Xavier deepens, Gwen finds it harder and harder to cope with her unresolved pain. The Team is a fast-paced and cinematic take on a contemporary relationship that offers a shatteringly realistic depiction of the psychic cost exacted by rape on even the strongest-seeming survivors. Dawson Perkins has created an indelible love story that’s gripping, passionate and touching, and features an unforgettably real heroine who is both emotionally bare and defiantly brave.