Valentine

What happens to women in a world that belongs to men? And how hard is it to lift your head and finally begin fighting for justice? This is what Elizabeth Wetmore’s novel “Valentine” is about—a novel of incredible power, strong and righteously furious. America, the 1970s. A petroleum boom sweeps through Texas like a tornado, promising men unprecedented wealth. For women it brings only stupor from unexpected profit and the endless drunkenness of men. The morning after Valentine’s Day, fourteen-year-old Gloria Ramirez appears on the doorstep of Mary Rose’s farm—beaten, terrified, begging for help. News spreads fast that a white oil man has raped her, but few people believe Gloria. “A captivating debut… ‘Valentine’ is a story about how women—especially women without education and money—survive in a world of male cruelty. It is their life in a backwater oil town in the mid-1970s, which Wetmore seems to know so deeply that it hurts… A carefully constructed and emotionally gripping novel.” — The Washington Post
“A monument of sorts to mercy and true steadiness of spirit.” — Entertainment Weekly
“A furious and complex ‘Valentine’ is a novel of moral urgency and breath-taking prose. The very definition of a stunning debut.” — Ann Patchett
“I don’t believe Elizabeth Wetmore is a debut writer. How did she burst onto the scene with such power and mastery? ‘Valentine’ is brilliant, sharp, tense, and devastating. Wetmore has wrenched West Texas—cruel and grand—from men’s hands and given the word to girls and women, the ones who have always suffered, survived, and still left their mark in this hostile world. These unbelievably vivid and unforgettable female characters will stay with me forever.” — Elizabeth Gilbert