Valentine: A Novel

“The oil fields in 1970s Texas are full of hell-raising men hoping to get rich. They arrive at the fields with guns and swagger, and anyone close enough to encounter them sees their arrival as a double-edged sword: waitresses make a killing in tips, but the risk of rape and murder underscores every flirtatious interaction. The women in Odessa lead lives that are all but invisible to the men in the fields until a violent rape of fourteen-year-old Glory shines a spotlight into their most intimate domestic spaces. Mary Rose, an exhausted young mother, is the first person to see Glory alive after the rape and finds herself hellbent on justice. Corinne, a new widow, spends her days torn between rage and paralyzing grief. Waitress Karla stares down danger in ways no man could have predicted. And Debra Ann becomes the lifeline of a traumatized Vietnam vet, even though she’s only a child.

Though their hardships are individual, the women’s fates are bound to merge. As their friends and acquaintances are relentlessly victimized by men who trust that justice will serve them above anyone else, their voices reach a fever pitch–but the promise of true justice is elusive. Sometimes victory resides in how you tell a story–about yourself, about your life, and about what you’ve left behind. This raw, relentless novel is essential reading.”