This week we’re looking at a dark yet realistic book from a debut author. This week, we’re looking at Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore.
This book starts in the aftermath of a brutal rape of a 14yo Mexican girl outside Odessa, Texas… and never really gets any lighter than that. So if you’re looking for a light, breezy read… this isn’t going to be something you want right now.
Instead, this book offers the perspectives of several different women in Odessa over the next several months – the victim, the first woman she stumbles across when looking for help, a young girl, and an elderly former teacher form the backbone of the story, with a few dalliances with a yuppie soccer mom (before that was actually a term), the young girl’s mother, and another high school dropout young mother. Combined, the perspectives do a great job of giving the overall picture of West Texas in the era – through female eyes, at least. Yet as some forshadowing in the middle of the book indicates, there are no real winners here – part of the reason I say this book never really gets any lighter.
Overall a great effort from any writer, debut or not, and while I hope this author provides some hint of light in her next book… I am indeed interested to see what she does next. Very much recommended.
As always, the Goodreads/ Amazon review:
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