Valentine: A Novel
By: Elizabeth Wetmore
Pages: 320
Type: Fiction
My Rating: Four Stars
Valentine is a heartbreaking and memorable story of late 1960’s Odessa, Texas and the vibrant and resilient people who try, despite everything, to rise above.
Synopsis:
The premise surrounds a young Mexican girl, Gloria, who is sexually attacked and finds herself on the porch of a young white mother. The mother sets out to do all she can to get justice in a town that has already tried the case and exonerated the perpetrator before a jury has even been selected. Mary Rose, the young mother, and her neighbors, Corrine, a recent widow, Deborah Ann, a girl whose mother has left her behind, and various others become central to the story and Gloria becomes more of a footnote- placed there to send off the action. But it’s really more character driven and not a courtroom drama at all.
Mercy is hard in a place like this.
My Thoughts:
I loved how real this book was and how the story lines were not neat and predictable. Wetmore weaves her tale around the lives and struggles of her female characters. My favorite was Corrine, a recent widow with grit and panache for days. To me, her story alone was worth the read. She is depicted in as and honest a state as I have seen. Having just recently lost her husband of many years, in a marriage that was real, and not perfect, she is exactly what you would expect. Chain smoking and drinking more than she should to numb herself, the only thing that can bring her out of her own fog is the desperate need of those around her. She finds herself being torn between the very real need to be "un-present" and yet must show up for those around her.
I adored Mary Rose’s honest challenges of balancing life and family and her morals which didn’t always fit together nicely. Her choices told both in real time and in flash back sequences were both tough to stomach but also understandable- if you know me, you know that's something that I love. When an author can take a flawed character and make us love them anyway, there's nothing better to me.
The town of Odessa and its surrounding farmlands are a character in and of themselves. Descriptions of the barren and arid lands are reminiscent of the descriptions in Where the Crawdads Sing. The locations are vastly different, but both Wetmore and Owens are experts at placing readers in a real geographical location. You find yourself thirsty when reading about the hot dry air and the dust blowing through during storms. It adds to the story profoundly.
The legal part of this book was less of a plot point than the jacket copy would lead you to believe, which I didn't mind. This was very much a courtroom story, without the courtroom- which I found refreshing and realistic. As much as we say innocent until proven guilty, we all form opinions well before any trials take place. Whether a jury agrees is something else entirely.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and appreciated its viewpoint and the fact that sometimes books don’t have to be fun and pretty to be inspirational. Four Stars.
Who would I recommend this to?
Anyone who is not highly sensitive and who doesn't mind reading about pain- this is not a light and fluffy or fun read. If you don't mind hard topics and you enjoy reading about people rising above circumstance and the love that binds us all, then this is a great book for you.
You can get a copy here:
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