Valentine
By Elizabeth Wetmore
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ 8.5/10
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
(8.5/10)
306 pages
What’s it about?
This novel takes place in 1976 in and around the oil fields of Odessa, Texas. Gloria is just fourteen-years-old when she shows up at the front door of MaryRose White-head’s ranch house. She has been raped and beaten and is not safe yet.
What did it make me think about?
Class, racism, and justice.Should I read it?
This book was not what I expected. The story is told from multiple perspectives. With each perspective we see how this crime affects the community. This was a really good book. It is well-written and fast paced. I always love a glimpse into a different world and West Texas in the 1970’s was a world I had not heard much about. In the end this book demonstrates both the ease and the difficulty in dehumanizing another person.
Quote-
“Ginny’s grandma was a toothy old woman, a believer in hellfire and hard work and punishment that fit the crime. If the devil comes knocking on your front door in the middle of the night, she liked to say, chances are you flirted with him at the dance. When she delivered the punch line, she clapped her hands twice sharply, just to make sure Ginny was paying attention.”
What’s it about?
This novel takes place in 1976 in and around the oil fields of Odessa, Texas. Gloria is just fourteen-years-old when she shows up at the front door of MaryRose White-head’s ranch house. She has been raped and beaten and is not safe yet.
What did it make me think about?
Class, racism, and justice.Should I read it?
This book was not what I expected. The story is told from multiple perspectives. With each perspective we see how this crime affects the community. This was a really good book. It is well-written and fast paced. I always love a glimpse into a different world and West Texas in the 1970’s was a world I had not heard much about. In the end this book demonstrates both the ease and the difficulty in dehumanizing another person.
This novel takes place in 1976 in and around the oil fields of Odessa, Texas. Gloria is just fourteen-years-old when she shows up at the front door of MaryRose White-head’s ranch house. She has been raped and beaten and is not safe yet.
What did it make me think about?
Class, racism, and justice.Should I read it?
This book was not what I expected. The story is told from multiple perspectives. With each perspective we see how this crime affects the community. This was a really good book. It is well-written and fast paced. I always love a glimpse into a different world and West Texas in the 1970’s was a world I had not heard much about. In the end this book demonstrates both the ease and the difficulty in dehumanizing another person.
Quote-
“Ginny’s grandma was a toothy old woman, a believer in hellfire and hard work and punishment that fit the crime. If the devil comes knocking on your front door in the middle of the night, she liked to say, chances are you flirted with him at the dance. When she delivered the punch line, she clapped her hands twice sharply, just to make sure Ginny was paying attention.”
