An instant New York Times BestsellerA Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!
“A thrilling debut that deserves your attention.” –Ron Charles, the Washington Post
Written with the haunting emotional power of Elizabeth Strout and Barbara Kingsolver, an astonishing debut novel that explores the lingering effects of a brutal crime on the women of one small Texas oil town in the 1970s, longlisted … explores the lingering effects of a brutal crime on the women of one small Texas oil town in the 1970s, longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the VCU Cabell First Novel Award.
Mercy is hard in a place like this . . .
It’s February 1976, and Odessa, Texas, stands on the cusp of the next great oil boom. While the town’s men embrace the coming prosperity, its women intimately know and fear the violence that always seems to follow.
In the early hours of the morning after Valentine’s Day, fourteen-year-old Gloria Ramírez appears on the front porch of Mary Rose Whitehead’s ranch house, broken and barely alive. The teenager had been viciously attacked in a nearby oil field—an act of brutality that is tried in the churches and barrooms of Odessa before it can reach a court of law. When justice is evasive, the stage is set for a showdown with potentially devastating consequences.
Valentine is a haunting exploration of the intersections of violence and race, class and region in a story that plumbs the depths of darkness and fear, yet offers a window into beauty and hope. Told through the alternating points of view of indelible characters who burrow deep in the reader’s heart, this fierce, unflinching, and surprisingly tender novel illuminates women’s strength and vulnerability, and reminds us that it is the stories we tell ourselves that keep us alive.
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This IS an excellent story, but I only gave it 4 stars because there is very little actual dialogue. I prefer stories with more dialogue than description.
When a young girl suffers a sexual assault in during the oil boom days 70’s Odessa Texas, the town is thrown into turmoil. The women of Odessa, no strangers to the lawlessness of the oil patch, feel the pain. Waiting for the suspect to be brought to trial, some arm themselves, some practice denial, some leave town. Written with humor, grit and courage, the author’s characters jump off the page.
Totally worthy debut novel.
Grisly
Put it down quickly
Great story, Very strong women characters. Will definitely look for Wetmore’s next book. Set in 1976 TX a young Mexican girl is raped … she flees the truck of her rapist and shows up at Mary Rose’s farm/ranch. Mary Rose cannot help but become involved and wants to support Glory during the trial despite her husband and the rest of the town being on the side of oil worker/rapist. Corrine is another strong, independent woman but definitely has her demons. So well written… There are several other strong characters … unfortunately, almost all the men are not very likeable and portrayed in a very weak, support the status quo even when violent crimes are committed. Highly recommend.
: This is a brilliantly written debut novel about the effects of a brutal incident on the lives of women in a small West Texas town at the cusp of the ’70s oil boom.
: It’s a highly immersive, exceptional piece of character-driven storytelling. I was several chapters in before realizing there weren’t any quotation marks around dialogue. If quotation-free dialogue is distracting to you, then this will be a challenging read.
: It explores the injustices women experience not only in overtly aggressive ways, but also in subtle daily interactions. There are moments of complete darkness that build frustration, anger, and fear for these women to where it finally bubbles to the surface. It makes you want to rage at the misogyny, abuse, and racism. It’s all balanced out by the tenderness, compassion, generosity, and love women show for one another.
: Well-written literary fiction will always top my list of favorite reads. I’m happy to report that this one did not disappoint. The resilient, resourceful, complex women will stay with me for a long time to come. I can’t wait for whatever Wetmore comes up with next.
In the process of reading right now. Absorbing!
This novel is masterful. My favorite for the year. The writing is stunning. The characters incredible. The setting so real you can taste the dust in your teeth. The scenes, again and again, have you holding your heart in your mouth about what will or will not happen. Yes, it’s set in west Texas, which was almost enough to keep me from reading it. I’m fortunate that I read a review and was faced with a revelation–an incredible story of a violent event, told from 7 different female points of view. How often you do see that? In terms of technique this writer knows how to create characters, seamlessly filter in back story and keep you on the edge. Pay particular attention the widow across the street. THE hands down best character of 2020. A woman’s story unlike any other. What we’ve been through as a gender…what we do for each other. My god!
It was really difficult for me to decide what rating to give this book. There were so many great things about it. The writing is magnificent. Set in Texas in the 1970’s, Wetmore does an incredible job setting the scene and making you feel as if you can vividly see and feel everything about the landscape, cultural backdrop, and attitudes of the time. The dry land, the dirty grime of oil wells, the meanness of the workers, the racist attitudes towards the Mexican immigrants, and the struggles that women of all backgrounds faced jump off the page. Beyond the writing, Wetmore creates some powerful female figures and details the battles they face with a sense of accuracy and realism.
Gloria/Glory – a 14 year old Mexican girl who wants to escape from the oppression she feels at home. After making a bad choice and getting in the truck of the wrong guy, her life is irrevocably changed.
Mary Rose – the pregnant mom whose doorstep Glory eventually finds her way to. Mary Rose is a fighter and stands up for what she believes is right. She’s going to face more adversity than she ever realized though when seeking justice for Glory.
Corrine – Mary Rose’s neighbor whose husband has recently died. Corrine never expected to find herself alone and didn’t realize just how hard life would really be without her beloved Potter.
Debra Ann – a young girl trying to comes to terms with why her mother just walked out on her and her dad. She’s desperate for love, attention and affection and will take it wherever she may find it.
These females are all strong lead characters. They are resilient and they are fighters. Their stories will move you to tears and inspire you at the same time.
So what’s the downside to this book then? Simple – it’s so depressing. It breaks your heart and leaves you feeling a bit hopeless and angry. It also makes you sit back and dwell on the injustices in the world, not just in the 1970’s in Texas, but throughout the years all over the globe. It’s a lot to take in and there isn’t much of a silver lining to be found.
Definitely worth the read but it may bend your spirit just a bit in the process!
Sad so unfair and wrong!
I was immersed in this story until the end. I enjoyed the writing style, which resulted in an atmospheric tale of a small west TX town in the 70s. The author managed to find beauty in a dreary, depressing town and rural area just through her descriptions.
I found most of the characters interesting and true to life. This is a character-driven story, with one action in the beginning which reveals the attitudes and biases of the townspeople.
Highly recommend for readers who appreciate character insights, along with a strong sense of place.
This book highlights a main character who is the victim of a serious crime. It is told from the perspectives of two young women, a women in her 30!s, and a woman in her 60’s. This book also shows the harsh realities of immigration and the recurring issues that women have dealt with for years. This book is well written and is so appropriate for the times that women are living through right now!
I’ve read Caleb Pirtle’s books and blogs set in Texas—enough to know that the climate is harsh and drilling for oil even harsher,
In VALENTINE, by Elizabeth Wetmore, harsh morphs into downright grim. The relentless heat seeps out of every page urging you, the reader, to turn on the air conditioner. The violence and the apparent lack of caring, like a punch to the gut, leave you breathless. Yet, you keep turning the pages. You have to know.
The widow, the young Mexican girl, the pregnant mother and her daughter, the young girl trying to take care of herself and her father—each presenting the oil patch from their point of view with their fear and strength and the often deeply buried tenderness making unexpected appearances.
Blurb:’
Mercy is hard in a place like this….
It’s February 1976, and Odessa, Texas, stands on the cusp of the next great oil boom. While the town’s men embrace the coming prosperity, its women intimately know and fear the violence that always seems to follow.
In the early hours of the morning after Valentine’s Day, 14-year-old Gloria Ramírez appears on the front porch of Mary Rose Whitehead’s ranch house, broken and barely alive. The teenager had been viciously attacked in a nearby oil field – an act of brutality that is tried in the churches and barrooms of Odessa before it can reach a court of law. When justice is evasive, the stage is set for a showdown with potentially devastating consequences.
Valentine is a haunting exploration of the intersections of violence and race, class, and region in a story that plumbs the depths of darkness and fear, yet offers a window into beauty and hope. Told through the alternating points of view of indelible characters who burrow deep in the listener’s heart, this fierce, unflinching, and surprisingly tender novel illuminates women’s strength and vulnerability, and reminds us that it is the stories we tell ourselves that keep us alive.
http://www.darlenejonesaiuthor.com
I selected this book to read because of a review in USA Today and because I love the cover image of high clouds on a stark West Texas plain. And the prose, “Gloria Ramírez stood on my front porch tottering like a skinny drunk, looking for all the world as if she had just crawled down from the screen of a horror movie… I snugged my fingers around the baseball bat and yelled at my daughter. Amiee Jo Whitehead, run to my bedroom and get Old Lady out of the closet, and bring it here right now. Carry it the right way.”
Great writing like that throughout the book, a read worth every moment.
Gritty, dark tale set in the oilfields of Texas
Odessa,Texas in 1976 is a town surrounded by oil wells, dust, heat, more dust and more heat. When 14 year-old Gloria Ramírez is brutally raped and beaten over the hours of a Valentine’s Day night by a white preacher’s son, sides are immediately chosen on who to believe.
When rancher’s wife pregnant Mary Rose Whitehead rescues the girl and agrees to testify at the trial of the man who brutalized her, many in the town immediately turn against her.
This is a story told by many different female characters of the town including Gloria and Mary Rose. It is a story of bigotry – where Mexican girls are asking for trouble and, after all, they mature faster than white girls – and the male chauvinism of the time – where a woman’s place is in the kitchen or in the bedroom.
This was a difficult book to read. It brought back not-so-great memories for me (I was a young woman at the time this book was supposedly taking place). It was hard to read of Gloria and Mary Rose’s troubles during this time.
It is very much a character driven tale that deals with the many different issues along with the ones already mentioned including motherhood, child neglect, grief, and stereotypical roles set for women.
I highly recommend this book but be warned that, although it has some bright moments, for the most part it is dark and depressing.
I received this book from Harper Books through Edelweiss in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
Fantastic characters, unbelievable well written for Debut Authors.
To Say Goodbye. This was an interesting story that starts out in the aftermath of a brutal rape… and never really gets any lighter. A dark look at West Texas in the oil boom of the late 70s, this is one of those tales where you’re looking from several different perspectives – each chapter is labeled not by number, but from the view it is focusing on – to get a view into a large swath of the bigger picture through individuals’ thoughts. The ending gets a bit wonky, with one perspective in particular thrown in for seemingly no real reason (though it does give a bit of a coda to one particular plot point, but spends far too much time doing things other than this), but the final few lines are an appropriate ending, and honestly better than some of the foreboding foreshadowing that preceded it. Very much recommended.
In outstanding prose, Wetmore has created a handful of extraordinary women out of the dust of West Texas, 1976. They are all so real, with their hard lives lived with absolute humanity. Valentine is both heartbreaking and thrilling, I loved it.
Elizabeth Wetmore shows us the vivid and complex culture of Odessa, Texas. The women in this book move through their difficult lives with strength and surprising grace. The landscape and characters are rendered with precise and lyric prose. Valentine is a beautiful book written with compassion, understanding, and deep honesty. A remarkable debut.
In Valentine, Elizabeth Wetmore cracks open West Texas and lays bare what beats inside: a world at once ferocious, fragile, and furious, where women and girls fight menace from every fanged quarter — land, animal, human. But fight they do, for themselves, for each other, for what’s right. Wondrously, amid the sorrow, Valentine thrums with the most staggering beauty, a compassion and tenderness as vast as the sky. You’ll read this book like a letter from a lost love, clutched in your hands, heart in your throat. You’ll carry it with you forever.