Book Review: "Valentine" by Elizabeth Wetmore
“Valentine” by Elizabeth Wetmore
Summary: 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.
Rating (out of 5): 4.5
Trigger Warnings: Sexual violence, gun violence, domestic violence
Review: Odessa, Texas, is a town made bleak and increasingly violent by the arrival of an oil rig. The influx of transient workers and the inherent danger of the work changes the dynamic of the town: intensifying racism, and increasing violence.
When Gloria Ramírez shows up on Mary Rose Whitehead’s porch, beaten terribly by a local young man. Mary Rose finds help and fends off the attacker, placing herself squarely into the crime’s narrative. The town questions the violence of the act and the nature of it, claiming Gloria and the young man were dating, that it was a misunderstanding. Mary Rose is infuriated and radicalized by what she witnesses, and by the harassment she faces from others in town for testifying for the prosecution.
The novel closely follows other women in town—a recently widowed former schoolteacher, and a neighborhood girl abandoned by her mother. The nature of what this town does to women is brutally and beautifully explored through their relationships.
The book also explores the nature of anger—that while we cannot choose what happens to us, we are still required to heal our anger or we will hurt ourselves and those we care about. While this is one of the cruelest hands life deals us, the consequences of becoming embittered are many.
In sum, this is a brutal but beautiful book, and I highly recommend it.
TL;DR: The rare crime novel that manages to temper shocking violence with excellent character development and a powerful narrative about female relationships.
If you liked this, try:
“The Fever” by Megan Abbott (Bookshop | Kindle)
“Every Secret Thing” by Laura Lippman (Bookshop | Kindle)
“Marilou is Everywhere” by Sarah Elaine Smith (Bookshop | Kindle)
If you click on one of the links in this article and make a purchase, She’s Full of Lit may receive a small commission. It doesn’t add anything to your price — we promise! Thanks so much for your support.
