User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Hey there, Valentine. His soft drawl marked him as not from here, but not that far away either, and his words took the ugly right out of the parking lot. Her mouth went dry as a stick of chalk. She had been standing next to the lone picnic table parked in the center of the drive-in, a shaky wooden hub in the middle of a few cars and trucks, doing what she always did on a Friday night—hanging around, drinking limeades and begging smokes, waiting for something to happen, which it never did, not in this piss-ant town.
Not until tonight.
The next morning, February 15, 1976, Gloria Ramirez wakes to find herself out in an oil patch, on the ground, the handsome young roughneck passed out in his pickup. Miles from home, she gathers articles of her scattered clothing, puts some of them on, and heads off in search of the nearest house, praying that he does not wake up before she can find her way to safety. Gloria has been raped and beaten to within an inch of her life. She walks across miles of rough country on bare, bloody feet, finding a house minutes before Dale Strickland, having come to, and realizing the need to cover his tracks, kicking up clouds of road dust in pursuit, arrives at that house and demands that Gloria be turned over to him. Thankfully, Mary Rose, very pregnant with her second, but in possession of a rifle named
Old Lady, that she has had since she was a teen, fends off the increasingly threatening Mister Strickland until the sheriff she had had her daughter, Aimee, call, arrives to keep things from getting any worse. Gloria will survive this day, a different person from who she was the day before. She is fourteen years old.
Elizabeth Wetmore - image from Baltimore Review
Gloria’s rape and the ensuing trial is where we begin in Elizabeth Wetmore’s lyrical, moving tapestry of a time and a place, Odessa, Texas, the late 1970s. It may not be that misery was born in Odessa, but it sure seems eager to stop by and visit as often as possible on its way to bigger game. (
Why did God give oil to West Texas? To make up for what he did to the land.) The focus is primarily, although not exclusively, on the females of this town, particularly four living on Larkspur Lane.
Mary Rose Whitehead stepped up to protect young Gloria in her hour of need, in heroic form. Her reward? Frequent calls, every day, of a threatening nature, enough to drive her to take a place in town, on Larkspur Lane, sparing her the vulnerable feeling of being left to fend for herself out near the oil patches while her husband was away at work.
Corinne Shepherd had been doing her best to drink and smoke herself to death following the departure of her husband, Potter, six weeks dead. She had already been forced to retire from a lifetime of teaching by mouthing off to the wrong person in the teachers’ lounge. I think we might imagine the general subject matter. But she gets drawn into the vortex created by Dale’s crime and Mary Rose’s willingness to man up and testify, ironic, as MR’s husband gives her crap for having opened her door to Gloria in the first place.
Debra Ann Pierce is ten, and the epitome of naïve optimism. This is the first Spring she has known since her mother, Ginny, left, promising, promising, promising to come back for her in a year, when she finally gets settled someplace else. Pop may not be really up to the task of raising his daughter alone. Debra Ann seems keen on connecting with Corinne, maybe looking for a substitute mother, or grandmother. Corinne’s impulse is to do the equivalent of waving a broom and yelling at her to get off her lawn, but DA persists. She is a great kid and you will love her. Particularly when she strikes up a heart-warming friendship with
PFC Jesse Belden, late of the war, deaf in one ear, exploited by a relation in town, and living in a drainage pipe.
And we follow
Glory, who sees herself as a new person after her experience, so alters her name. Her trials are not over with surviving the rape and beating. Will she testify? Will she be able to return to school? While she is recovering from her many injuries, and laying low, there is an incredibly beautiful scene in which Glory is befriended for a time by an unlikely person. Have your tissues ready.
There are more, Ginny Pierce, DA’s mother, fits the local demo for parenthood. (
What do you call a single mother who has to be up early in the morning? A sophomore.) She may love her kid, but not enough to live this godawful withering life any longer. She really, really, really intends to come back for DA. Karla Sibley is a 17-year-old single mother working hard to make a better life. Suzanne Ledbetter, is trying to do better for her family that her ancestry might have predicted.
Men are happy if you stay, but only on their terms. Women are meant to be at home, not in the work force. They are expected to tend the nest, making, and then taking care of babies. Appealing, no? Women in Odessa seem to either get burned out or burned up, dying to get out, or just dying. Most with the ability to dream want to leave, but some never get the chance.
A local woman’s burned body has been found, the fourth in the past two years. What a thing an oil boom is for a town, Corinne used to tell Potter bitterly, it brings in the very best sort of psychopath.
What is it like to be a woman, a female, growing up in a place where the land is sere and cold-hearted, the attitudes antediluvian, and where the opportunities for things to go bad far outweigh the chances for some actual self-realization, a place where good-old-boys tend to look after their own, regardless of their crimes, and crime victims are expected to shut up and somehow conclude that they had it coming. It is pretty tough to stand up when the local winds blow dark and hard and encourage one to dive for shelter. Yet, in this flat, miserable landscape there are glimmers of hope. Maybe
this girl,
this young woman can find a way to a better life. Maybe
that woman can make something better out of a marriage gone stale. Maybe some people will be able to communicate meaningfully with some other people to stave off the darkness of solitude. It is these flashes of light that give us, that give any of the characters here, hope.
Every August for the nearly thirty years she taught English, in an overheated classroom filled with farm boys and cheerleaders and roughneck wannabes reeking of aftershave and perfume, Corinne would spot the name of at least one misfit or dreamer on her fall roster. In a good year there might be two or three of them—the outcasts and weirdoes, the cellists and geniuses and acne ridden tuba players, the poets, the boys whose asthma precluded a high school football career and the girls who hadn’t learned to hide their smarts. Stories save lives, Corinne had said to those students. To the rest of them she said, I’ll wake you when it’s over.
DA and Glory both loved the stories their mothers told them. DA gets more from her friend, Jesse. It is one of the things that binds them.
The novel alternates perspectives, Mary Rose’s being the only first-person account. Gloria’s horrific experience may be the MacGuffin of the novel, but Mary Rose is the character we spend the most time with, the one whose life remains in peril, even after Dale’s arrest, the one through whom other characters link. Wetmore is impressively skilled at conveying backstory. We get a very good idea of how all her major characters wound up where they are in 1976, and find out where some of them are headed in their lives ahead. I confess to pining to learn the where-are-they-now about many more of them. Each chapter contains links to other characters’ story lines, reminding me of the backstitch, binding the individual tales together to make a stronger whole
The issue, the problem, the reality of
secrecy pervades the story. Almost everyone is hiding something now or has done some serious squirreling away of intel in the years before. And, of course, there are those who cover the truth in self-serving lies, even though the truth is barely secret at all. Hoping for better, for example, can be a heavy secret when resignation is the norm.
Panhandle Dust Storm - image from the author's site
Odessa is a scary place. The weather is a large player here, the landscape oppressive, persistent, and hostile. Wetmore’s descriptions give aspiring writers something to aim for.
Tonight the wind blows like it’s got something to prove. [It] moves from window to window, a small animal sharpening its claws on the screens. Out at the ranch you hear this sound and you think possum or maybe armadillo. Here in town you might think of a squirrel or somebody’s cat. Lately the wind makes me think of animals that have not been here for a hundred years, panthers and wolves, or twisters that threaten to lift my children impossibly high in the air, only to fling them back to earth.
Small animals dash across the stage from time to time, almost always toting some smaller creature in their mouths. It is a red-in-tooth-and-claw place, and not just for the people. Danger also comes in the form of dark-intentioned telephone calls. Mary Rose is not the only woman who gets them.
You may be reminded in reading this of another excellent ensemble-cast look at an out of the way place, Bryn Chancellor’s beautifully written 2017 debut, Sycamore, or maybe Jennifer Haigh’s Baker Towers, weaving together the lives of a community to tell a whole story. I have read only two books (The other being My Dark Vanessa) so far slated for publication in 2020. (It now being July, 2019) As it happens, both of them are bloody spectacular, both deserving candidates for book of the year recognition. It promises to be an amazing year.
The only real gripe I have is that it will be such a long wait until March, 2020, when
Valentine is scheduled for release. (really, not February?) But I assure you it will be worth the wait. Elizabeth Wetmore has written a masterful novel, one that will touch your heart, and impress you, whether you are a casual reader or literary-deconstruction sort. It is a beautifully written book that takes on real-world subjects, a great, great novel. This is one
Valentine you will want to make all yours.
The harvest moon has come early this year, blood red and beautiful against the darkening sky. Try floating with your ears under the water, Tina had said to Glory as they drifted across the swimming pool that afternoon. Listen, she said, the sounds from the highway will blend together—a truck hauling pipeline or water, a flatbed turning onto the highway, the drill on a rig slowly winding itself up, they will all start to sound alike. You can tell yourself you’re hearing anything, Tina said, her large white arms floating next to her like buoys. And will you look at that sky? It’s a wonder, a damned wonder.
Review posted – July 26, 2019
Publication date – March 31, 2020
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EXTRA STUFFThe author’s personal, FB, Instagram, and GR pages
Wetmore teaches creative writing in the Chicago area. She has received multiple fellowships and held sundry residencies. Her writing has appeared in
The Iowa Review, Kenyon Review, Colorado Review, Baltimore Review, and probably more. I admire and respect her for this, but as much for having once driven a cab.
By the author-----Baltimore Review - Women & Horses (1976) - The story of Debra Ann’s mother leaving. It does not exactly match the chapter in which Ginny says goodbye to Debra Ann, but it is worth a look. It works as a top-notch stand-alone piece. It was published in 2013.
-----The Iowa Review - Shelter in Place - Jon Ledbetter (
Suzanne Ledbetter’s husband in the book) heading into the plant to deal with an accident, possible benzene spill. Good stuff.
Items of Interest-----Anne Sexton’s Live or Die
-----Ella Fitzgerald - My Funny Valentine
Rating: really liked it
A hauntingly powerful, and beautiful debut ! This is a longer than usual review, but I just had to be sure I could do it justice. Odessa Texas in 1976, and believe me when I say I felt as if I was there. The brown dry land and the beautiful purple sky on the cover are portrayed in beautiful prose. The intimate thoughts and feelings of the characters make such an impact, as we become privy to the burdens they carry as they make their way through life in this dry, brutal land where oil and men rule. These characters and their stories, how they connect are so perfectly drawn in multiple alternating points of view.
The novel opens with Gloria Ramirez, a fourteen year old Mexican - American girl, who after being brutally attacked and raped, has so much taken from her. “ As for Gloria, she will never again call herself by the name she was given, the name he said again and again while she lay there with her face in the dirt...But not anymore. from now on, she will call herself Glory. A small difference, but right now it feels like the world.” Her afterthoughts following the gut wrenching physical attack are heartbreaking.
Mary Rose Whitehead, wife of a cattle rancher, mom of a young daughter and pregnant, who finds Glory on her doorstep, faces a harrowing encounter that will forever change her.
Corrine Shepard is a grieving widow, drinking to ease the pain of her loss, is besides her late husband, the last person to see Gloria before the attack. A former teacher, she believes “Stories can save your life.”
Debra Ann Pierce, a precocious 10 year old, grieving and missing her mom who has left. My heart was broken for this little girl, who is kind and fearless beyond her years.
These are the main characters, whose lives intersect, but there a few other shorter points of view of women impacted by the misery they share of being a woman in this place and doing what they need to do to survive. Sometimes it’s leaving and sometimes it means staying. The story takes an emotional toll, right from the start. I held my breath, heart in my throat in the opening chapters, but by the end, my heart was almost back in place and these characters were in it . There is so much here - grit and violence, injustice and prejudice, but amid the worst of this I found strength of conviction, caring and the kindness of women and a ten year old girl who manage to rise with a little hope for a way forward. A debut from one very talented writer who knows how to tell a gripping story with characters that I’ll remember. What I love the most about reading new books by a new author is discovering a debut novel that is just so good in every way that I immediately wonder when the author will write another. It’s only June, but I can safely say that this novel will most definitely be on my list of favorites for the year. I will have my eyes out for Elizabeth Wetmore with hopes of another book.
(So many of my GR friends read and reviewed this within the last few months. I didn’t read some of them or very many books for a while because of a personal issue, but I’m going to read every one of their reviews if I haven’t yet.)
I received a copy of this book from Harper through Edelweiss. Apologies for for not getting to it sooner.
Rating: really liked it
Again I found myself lost in the descriptive writing to a story and I struggled through the story trying to figure what it was exploring. I was intrigued by Gloria and Mary Rose's storyline here but it felt like more of a side story and I wanted to see more focus on it. There were too many characters and I struggled with keeping track of who was who. I couldn't connect with any of the characters and this one just didn't work for me.
I received a copy on EW
Rating: really liked it
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore (Author), Cassandra Campbell (Narrator), Jenna Lamia (Narrator)
The reason I wanted to read/hear Valentine is because I've lived in west Texas for the last thirty years and have lived in Texas or New Mexico for my entire life. I know this area, the weather, the plants, the wind, sand/dirt, heat, tornadoes, drought, animals, birds, on and on. It's hard enough in the best of times. I felt like I was reliving my long drives across west Texas, with Wetmore's book and the narration of Campbell and Lamia. They all did a great job with this brutal, desolate story.
I have a friend who grew up in Odessa, during the time of this book, and when I met her, she and I were in our early 20s, and she was so bitter about her life in Odessa. There was a belief that high school football was God (there are books about it), and football players could get away with murder while young women, like my friend, were treated like dirt. Just second hand info but her hatred of life in Odessa, always stuck with me because it was so intense and had to do with the way of thinking there.
My heart hurt for all the women in this story and some of the men. There is so much unfairness, judgement, and brutality that hasn't changed in the almost 40 plus years since the setting of this book. The story is told from the points of view of two girls and several women and I'm not sure there is a happy ending for any of the women or those around them. These women are smart, resourceful, afraid to hope, and lapses in good judgement doesn't help their fates. Pregnant and dropping out of high school to raise babies, their options look bleak, their life a hard road that won't get better. The book starts and ends with Gloria/Glory and her chances of a good life are even bleaker.
I don't know what else to say about this book. It's dark and depressing and I can't say that any of these women find a better future. I can't say that things are any better now than they were in the book. The writing is beautiful and I know that the area, weather, and heat are described perfectly.
Pub March 31, 2020
Rating: really liked it
I’m still basking with profound ‘aw’!!!
Review to come....
Update: My little book review...... :)
“Valentine”, by Elizabeth Wetmore will be released in April - 2020 …..
Put it on your wishlist…. Pre-pay-order it — beg- borrow -or steal it.
Literary readers will fall in love with this novel. Fiction readers will simply love the characters —will ache at times, be moved other times. Emotions ‘will’ be felt!
Readers who appreciate beautiful writing will melt!!
I’m a reader —not a writer —I could never do this book the justice it deserves — but its so so so darn GOOD!!!! Yet…this book deserves all the praise one could give it. I fully appreciate this books blurb: All of it!!!!! A great written blurb!!! Its TRUTHFUL!!!
Elizabeth Wetmore can definitely be compared with Barbara Kingsolver, and Elizabeth Strout. I might even add Wallace Stegner. She couldn’t possibly be a beginner novelist — this might be her first novel — but her talent is exceptional.
Wetmore’s compassionate authorial generosity toward her characters are brimming with wisdom about the human spirit.
It’s one of the best literary -’debut’- novels I’ve read in years…..written with purpose beyond the storytelling.
I found this novel to be deeply introspective, both visionary and lucid — fiction for humanity —with many passages to relish.
In “Valentine”, we become entranced with the rich complexities between man, woman, and land.
‘WOMAN’ - MAN -and LAND!!!!!
*Will Byrnes* wrote a terrific review on Goodreads — He did such an outstanding job describing the characters - the plot - time & place - with highlighted excerpts …..(even stole an excerpt I, too, was going to include in my review) — haha…
So rather than re-invent the wheel — I’ll do my best to try to contribute other aspects that resonated with me —
Heck —the ENTIRE NOVEL resonated with my heart -my soul - and my mind —
If this novel doesn’t win some major book award — then something is very wrong!!!
Tidbit teasers — sumptuous prose excerpts: [setting, late 70’s, Odessa, Texas]
*Mary Rose Whitehead*: ….the young mother - 26 years old - and 7 months pregnant - who first sees *Gloria Ramirez* after she walked away from a brutal rape…..says:
“The church I grew up in taught us that sin, even if it happens only in your heart, condemns you all the same. Grace is not assured to any of us, maybe not even most of us, and while being saved gives you a fighting chance, you must always hope that the sin lodged in your heart, like a bullet that cannot be removed without killing you, is not of the mortal kind. The church wasn’t big on mercy, either. When I tried to explain myself to Robert in the days after the crime, when I told him I had sinned against this child, betrayed her in my heart, he said my only sin had been opening the door in the first place, not thinking of my own damned kids first. The real sin, he said, was some people letting their daughters run the streets all night long. I can hardly stand to look at him”.
*Corrine Shepard*:….its only been six weeks since her husband *Potter* died. It was easy to understand why she often added a bit of bourbon to her ice tea.
Sitting in a bar alone one night reminded me what depression looks like:
“The man looked at her briefly and then decided to ignore her. It was the best thing about being an old lady with thinning hair and boobs saggy enough to prop up on a bar. Finally, she could sit down on a barstool and drink yourself blind without some jackass hassling her”.
Corrine and her deceased husband, Potter, had fights over money, and sex, or who would mow the yard or wash the dishes or pay the bills....
and they both might have fallen for other people for a few years -.
but they always waited for their love to return to each other —and when they did — oh….what a wonder!!!
I ached for Corrine - and her loss.
I have two friends whose husband’s died this summer — they would give anything to have them back -dirty smelly socks, fights and and all.
*Debra Ann Pierce*….. is a spunky 10 year old girl ….
Perhaps her clothes will give you a small flavor of her sassiness personality:
“a hot pink T-shirt that says ‘Superstar’ and a pair of orange terrycloth shorts that barely cover the tops of her thighs”. This bouncy young girl will steal your heart.
*Ginny Pierce*….
says:
“What kind of woman runs out on her husband and her daughter? The kind who understands that the man who shares her bed is, and will always be, just the boy who got her pregnant. The kind who can’t stand thinking that she might someday tell her own daughter: All this ought to be good for you. The kind who believes she’s coming back, just as soon as she finds someplace where she can settle down.” {Debra Ann wants her mother, Ginny to COME BACK}.
*Karla Sibley*….. was barely 17….a local waitress. She had a new baby at home with her mama.
….*Dale Strickland* - is the man charged with aggravated sexual assault and attempted murder.
As we read and wonder how justice will be served — it wasn’t ‘the-getting-there’ and the outcome that drove this novel for me — it was the characters themselves. I really cared for them.
*Suzanne Ledbetter* is a kick supporting character —a redhead who wears ironed orange petal pushers —She was the Mrs. Volunteer of American — She believed in “sunlight, bleach, and not hiding little white lies”. Annoyingly-loving funny woman!
…Aimee, Robert, Pastor Rob, Keith Taylor - are other characters you’ll get to know —
*Gloria Ramirez*….insisted on being called *Glory* after the night she was raped —
….a horrifying night - hard to talk about - impossible to forget —
Elizabeth begins and ends her story with Gloria’/Glory….. harrowing & inspiring!
“Even the buffalo and blue grama grasses, thin and pliant as they are, have been holding their breath”. I held my breath a few times too!!!
“Why did God give oil to Texas?
To make up what he did to the land”.
“Why don’t girls from Odessa play hide-and-go-seek?
Because nobody would go look for them”.
Powerful, passionate, intimate, astonishing, an unforgettable rich cast of characters!!!
I don’t think I’ll ever forget this novel.
It would make a great film!
Thank you *Emily Griffin*, and HarperCollins publishing for sending me a copy of this wonderful novel.
Thank you *Will Byrnes* for being my friend and inspiration for this novel!!!
Rating: really liked it
This is a Historical Fiction Mystery. I loved the first few chapters of this book, but by the middle of the book I really hated the fact we follow 5 people. In my opinion we follow to many characters and they had to much going on. I would get into to one of the characters then we would jump to the next character. I feel if we only followed two characters in the book it would be a great book. There was to much going on in this book for me. I won an ARC copy of this book from a goodreads giveaway, but this review is 100% my own opinion of this book.
Rating: really liked it
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore is a 2020 Harper publication.
Phenomenal Debut!After fourteen- year old Gloria Ramirez is beaten and raped, she escapes her attacker, finally making her way to the doorstep of Mary Rose Whitehead. Mary Rose was home alone with her daughter, but bravely keeps Gloria safe with so small danger to herself. However, once the immediate threat has passed, Mary Rose discovers the community is far from impressed by her act of courage and heroism.
Because the accused rapist is a well- connected young white man and Gloria is a Hispanic girl- Mary Rose’s non-conformity not only earns her sharp rebukes from other women she associates with, but she could be the target of revenge- especially since she refuses to let the matter die.
Eventually, the boiling hot stew of racism, misogyny, injustice, fear, and stress, brings Mary Rose to the brink of madness…
I chose this book for several reasons. One, it was set in Texas in mid-seventies- in Odessa- and because I noticed how well it was received, and because I just had one of those feelings- like the book was calling me.
My instincts paid off- but this book was far more impressive than I had anticipated. In fact, I’m not sure my review could do this book justice.
When Mary Rose lays eyes on the battered Gloria Ramirez, she sees the hard, cold truth about her environment, she fears for her daughter’s future, and knows that someone has to speak up for Gloria, that someone has to fight for her, because evidently, no one else will.
Yet her determination to see justice done, to testify to what she saw and experienced that fateful day when Gloria came to her home, will place her in a very dangerous position, heightening her distress, but never beating back her courage. Still, her constant worry takes a toll on her mental state, the pressures and internal turmoil eventually reaching a breaking point.
The author absolutely nails the atmosphere of Odessa: The seclusion, the attitudes, the climate, and the economical tension bubbling beneath the surface-while exquisitely capturing an era of time where women are mere extensions of their husbands, where their jobs are to be someone’s wife and someone’s mother.
The accurate divide between class and race is vivid, and painfully drawn as are the stellar characterizations. Besides, Mary Rose, whose husband is often away and who is pregnant with her second child, her neighbor Corrine, a recent widow, instantly wins my respect. The two women form an unlikely bond, sharing the same feelings of frustration. I loved the way Corrine protected Mary Rose and stuck up for her, keeping a watchful eye on her.
Debra Ann, a child whose mother abandoned her, and who is left mostly to her own devices, is also a vibrant character who befriends a homeless war veteran.
Each character has an internal dialogue, giving the reader a personal and intimate look at their thoughts, revealing their hopes, fears, regrets, and longing. It is easy to lose oneself in each of these narratives, which are like vignettes inside a broader story. This strong feminine cast shines brilliantly against the stark, gritty reality of the old dusty oil town, and will leave an enduring imprint on my soul.
Overall, this is a gritty, compelling, and powerful debut. It is unflinching, no holds barred, driving home a clear message that will resonate with many readers and women who still fight against a system that favors ‘good ole’ white boys, who come from a good family’. Trust me, the author knows and understands this landscape intimately. The love/hate emotions for Odessa and Texas is palpable, and although I’ve never made it that far west, on many days, that conflict is a feeling I know all too well.
Yet, despite the stormy, and nearly unbearable, suspense, there is also an undertone of sensitivity, too. The writing is splendid- goose-pimply good- drawing comparisons to some heavy hitters in Texas literature. This one earns a top spot on the 2020 favorites list!
Hitting the recommend button on this one!! READ THIS BOOK!
Rating: really liked it
An astonishingly unforgettable debut from the talented Elizabeth Wetmore, historical fiction set in the searing heat and dust of West Texas, in the cursed bust and boom oil town of Odessa in 1976, a white man's town in every which way, where men die in a variety of circumstances but if a woman dies, its more likely than not to be at the hands of a man. For women, narrow limits and prescribed perameters of life have them desperately dreaming of seeing a wider world, where pregnancy and motherhood are steel traps with a vice like grip that crush spirits, dreams, hopes and imprisons, a life sentence with no parole. Odessa is a town, a community full of fools and sinners, that is as guilty as sin, with its vicious, unapologetic racism running rampant through its veins, where women and girls are abused, condemned and murdered with impunity, and justice is a forlorn unattainable ideal.
Wetmore examines Odessa and the social norms and attitudes of the period through the lives of women and girls, such as the married and pregnant Mary Rose Whitehead, the elderly, stubborn, grumpy and bereaved Corinne Shepherd, mourning the loss of her beloved husband, Potter, 17 year old Karla Sibley working as a waitress, the plucky 10 year old Debra Ann, missing her mother, Ginny, who loves her daughter, but needs more as she escapes the town, and 14 year old Mexican Gloria. Mary Rose's courage shines like a beacon when she stands up for the barely alive, battered and raped Gloria when the girl turns up at her ranch. Her husband, Robert, like the other menfolk, consider her beyond the pale, and a race traitor for her willingness to testify against the paedophile and rapist Dale Strickland, the son of a preacher man. After all, Gloria, who becomes Glory, is Mexican, asking for it, and anyway Mexican girls are not the same as white girls. Mary Rose dares to dream of justice for Gloria, but Corinne has no such illusions.
Wetmore relates an Odessa where the women, despite everything that stands in their path, support and help each other, such as the indomitable Corinne coming to the aid of Mary Rose as her unbridled wrath and rage at injustice push her close to the edges of insanity, Suzanne Ledbetter with her voluntary provisions to those in need, and the women supporting Karla, determining an alternative justice. Debra Ann's compassion, kindness, and relationship with the drain pipe living ex-soldier, Jesse Belden, allow the two of them to meet each others need to be cared for when they are neglected by everyone else. Victor, Gloria's uncle, looks after her when her mother is deported, illustrating his wisdom in understanding that nothing causes more suffering than vengeance.
This is a stellar character driven read that details the lives and circumstances of this place and this time, a novel with an ironic title of Valentine, the only true Valentines in the novel are Corinne and Potter, and Potter is dead. Wetmore is unafraid of venturing into sacrilegious territory where her characters can feel the all too real chains and boredom of motherhood, where you can love someone with all your heart and still wish they weren't there. This is a hugely memorable and terrific read, and I just cannot wait for whatever Wetmore turns her attention to next and writes. Highly recommended. Many thanks to HarperCollins 4th Estate for an ARC.
Rating: really liked it
Odessa, Texas. It’s 1976 and a young fourteen-year-old Mexican girl, Gloria, is beaten and raped by a white oilfield worker. She shows up on Mary Grace’s porch, bloodied and battered. This attack divides the town and pits neighbor against neighbor. Readers learn what happens next through the eyes of the women in the town.
There are multiple points of view but these three had my heart:
- Mary Grace, a young mother who opens the door to the battered Gloria. She keeps Gloria safe but the repercussions affects her life forever.
- Corrinne, a new widow mourning her husband Potter. My heart ached for her and I loved hearing her backstory. She and Mary Grace become a support system for each other
- Debra Ann, a spunky ten-year-old girl who is dealing with being abandoned by her mother
It’s a man’s world in Odessa and life is hard for the women. Odessa is as much of a character in this novel as the characters themselves.
“…mercy is hard in a place like this”. But so is justice. Who will stand up for Gloria?
I love a novel that gives me a glimpse into the inner lives of the characters, their hopes, dreams, struggles, and regrets, and this novel does just that. Each of these women are different ages and each has their own story to tell that resonated deeply. The book doesn’t focus on the details of the rape, but on the aftermath on the women in the town. This is not a pretty story that is tied up in a neat bow at the end, but it’s an amazing debut with characters that have left a lasting impression.
Recommended for fans of emotional, slow-burn, atmospheric character-driven stories. This is 100% my wheelhouse and I loved it.
Rating: really liked it
Valentine by Elizabeth Whetmore opens with the disturbing image of Gloria, a fourteen year old Mexican girl escaping from an itinerant, oil field roughneck. She has been violently raped.
The way this terrible event touches the lives of those living in the nearby Texan oil town, Odessa, forms the backbone of the novel.
The events take place over a stiflingly hot summer in 1976 and are seen mainly from a female perspective. The relationship between mother and daughter is a constant theme and the interconnected stories are told in turn by beautifully crafted and very real women characters.
Girls marry early, have children in their teens, run away and escape or stay and tough it out. Daughters are sometimes left stranded, set adrift, to make their own way. Regret, frustration and loneliness exist in each story. All struggle in this small desert town surrounded by oilfields and oil men.
There is material poverty and a poverty of choice but we are left with a glimmer of hope ‘....a single heroic ray of sunlight ....’ in the form of books, college and a world beyond the oil fields.
Men don’t fare too well in the story and are mostly roughnecks, rednecks, rapists or departed (with a couple of notable exceptions)
Another constant theme is the struggle against injustice. The prejudice and casual inbred racism of some, in this area close to the Mexican border is subtlety explored, as is how the environment can influence and distort
‘ ..... how easy it is to become the thing you most hate.’
The sense of place in this novel is important and the writing is wonderfully atmospheric. You can almost taste the grit, smell the melting tarmac and gas flares, see the scrawl of pump jacks and derricks on the horizon, hear the dry wind blowing and feel the weight of the ‘murderous sun’.
All is steeped in an overwhelming sense of sadness.
The pace of the narrative alternates between languid and lyrical, to taut and gripping, with pages flipping hastily.
The overall tone however is melancholy, you won’t find many happy characters within these pages and some of the story threads are heartbreaking.
Valentine will make you sad and angry at times but the writing is beautiful and it already feels like a modern classic.
Rating: really liked it
The year is 1976 and Odessa, Texas is experiencing an oil boom. Men from different locations have all come to the fields, looking for work and a chance to make big money. They are hard working, but also hard drinking, which creates potential problems for the women in the town.
The book opens with an act of violence against a 14 yr. Old Mexican girl. When she turns up on Mary Roses doorstep, her horrifying condition brings out the defender in her. Her defense of this girl and the violence done by the young man who arrives shortly after looking for the girl, will change the life of her family.
Many in the town defend the young man and Mary Rose receives threats and pressure to not testify. Many in the town think the girl was asking for it and even if not she was only a Mexican so what does it matter.
We hear from the women themselves, those who support Mary Rose and try to help her. We hear from a young ten year old girl, whose mother has left and whose father is always working. She befriends a young man who is living in a drainage pipe. Soon things will get out of control.
Terrific renderings of time and place, one feels as if they were living in this dust laden town. The way the story is put together reminds me of Elizabeth Strout and the way she structures her stories.. This is about women living within and trying to avoid the potential violence that is all around. Women's strength and vulnerability. Although it is violence that starts this story it is not a thriller, but rather about a town divided by racial injustice and how the women cope with what has happened and their lives as they try to hold on to what is important. This is a terrific book with a real message that is even more important today.
ARC from Edelweiss.
Rating: really liked it
A must read! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I will never forget this book or my experience reading Valentine. It wasn’t easy to be a girl or woman in Odessa, Texas in 1976, and this book is about those women living the day-to-day. When Gloria Ramirez is violently attacked, the town is ripped apart. Gossip, blame, shame, and pure meanness rear their ugly heads.
Valentine was not an easy book to read, but it’s one that I’ll always be grateful I read. Crimes against women are nothing new, unfortunately, but the time period and the story itself were told in a captivating, original voice. Even in the darkness and despair, the story offered hope and inspiration, and I think that’s what made me love it all the more. Emotional stories get to me like no other. I love the investment I feel when a book is something I can relate to, and once again, I’ll repeat myself. This book left its mark on me.
I received a gifted copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
Rating: really liked it
I went back and forth on my rating for this book quite a bit. At one point, I wanted to DNF, but I pushed through. I initially rated it one star, but then bumped it up to two...and then three...and then finally four. And yet I wouldn’t exactly say I enjoyed the story.
While I appreciated the haunting, character-driven literary nature and the way it gave women and their struggles the stage, I also didn’t love how much we jumped around. We focused on a multitude of women and pin-balled around their lives in a way that, while thought-provoking, had no bearing on the story in any tangible way a lot of times. The entire book was also fairly grim and hopeless throughout.
I think what was most compelling for me, though, was the way motherhood was presented...the dichotomy of, of course, loving your child with every fiber of your being...but also feeling somewhat frustrated at times with how motherhood - while joyous - can also make life so much more difficult and complicated. I thought it was a stark and honest depiction of how motherhood can manifest itself for some women and certain times...warts and all...no matter how much you love your child.
Rating: really liked it
I am kind of short of words to describe all the emotions this novel granted me. Having received a library copy, I read it just in two days and finished this morning.
Those of my GR Friends who have already reviewed 'Valentine' remark on the outstanding writing power that you can find in this novel and the fact that it is a debut makes it even more remarkable.
The voices of female protagonists of different age are strong. The stories of their lives in Odessa, Texas, in the mid seventies made my heart beat faster and faster as my reading progressed. I felt for all female characters, no exception there, and just hated the male dominance and lack of respect. There are just two male characters who go against the tide and who have some softness about them.
Some scenes have such intensity that I all I could do was just to sit still, listen too my heart pound and read. The psychological background is amazing and I found nothing artificial, superficial or unbelievable in any scenes. I was right there, with Glory, Corrine, Mary Rose and Karla. Their problems and will to protect themselves against men make the core of this book. It is rare for a debut novel to feel so mature and realistic and natural. My opinion is that this novel deserves all the positive hype it has been generating since the publication. Definitely one of the top books I have read this year, and as a result, I am going to get my own copy of 'Valentine'.
Rating: really liked it
Yes, it start's out the day after a young teen's rape, but it doesn't stay there. It's a character driven novel that orbits around race, gender, and integrity in Odessa, Texas in 1976 as seen through the
female perspective only. "Gloria could be any of our girls,...." "Why don't we give a shit about what happens to a girl like Glory Ramirez?" Rape details are not disclosed. The emotional and physical aftermath on Gloria (also known as Glory) are affirmed, but Gloria is given only 3 chapters in the book. It tends to focus on the emotional effects. There were not a lot of gruesome details.
This is primarily a
literary novel that basks in a bounty literary elements. If you are looking for a quick read, this is not it. Each sentence was constructed to drive home a deeper meaning, intensify the essence of a character, or to advance the atmosphere. There were moments during the first half, that moved at a slower pace because of the excessive use of language. In the end, those longer descriptions and narrations really made me feel like I knew these women though. Some of them I won't forget.
Chapters alternate point of view without pattern and are told from women living in Odessa during this time. The main characters are typically effected by that night Gloria was raped, either as distant witness or a community member. But, other women chime in with chapters (unrelated to Gloria's case) to solidify a setting that reflects
gender inequity.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions are my own.
