The tale starts with a brutal rape. What follows is the reaction of a cast characters to the assault, the justice system and society. It is a book that makes you think, as well as want to shout about society's many infuriating double standards and inequalities.

It is a deeply caring book, but also brutally frank, Mexicans in Texas won't get justice and in particular, young girls will not be believed when they are up against the good ol' boys. I enjoyed the voices of the many characters, a device which could have so easily lead to confusion brought a pleasing continuity to the story.

A small town in Texas a group of women’s horrific crime.the. After effects on their lives the women drew me in kept me turning the pages.A debut an author to follow #netgalley #4thestate

I don't mind admitting this didn't draw me straight in. In fact I was a tad annoyed to be taken away from the main story.
Then as I saw how all the stories overlapped and were connected in some way,I fell right into it.

The stories are harsh,the farm life,the way women are treated,and the racism.... but harsh often tells the best story.
I'm wishing I'd not raced through this now,and it could have been my last book of 2019,going out on a high.

The Year:- 1976. The place:- Odessa, West Texas. Oil boom. It’s hell, hard, harsh, brutal, bigoted, full of machismo, mayhem, sexism, violence and injustice. When Gloria Ramirez, 15, is brutally raped it sets of a kind of chain reaction of blame, counter blame, prejudice, gossip and bigoted innuendo that some women are never the same again. Dale Strickland is the coward in question who thinks he can take what he wants and there will be few repercussions. Sadly, he’s right despite Mary Rose, who’s ranch poor Gloria staggers to, standing up to him both for herself and the girl against the arrogance of the male dominated society. Mary Rose is my hero of this story as she has guts and sass. She moves away from the ranch as she can no longer bear the place or her husbands attitude and moves opposite Corinne Shepard. Corinne is struggling after the death of her husband and is doing her darned best to drink herself into a grave next to him. We also follow Debra Ann Pierce who is 10 and running feral after her mum Ginny runs out on her. DA is kind and resourceful. These women/child connect together in this superb debut novel and is told in alternate storylines by the female protagonists.

The writing of this thought provoking snapshot of a period of time has been described as masterful. It is. Elizabeth Wetmore has been compared to writers such as Elizabeth Strout. She should be. Her prose is beautiful, creative and original, she build tension perfectly, makes you feel a powerful array of emotions from sadness to anger at the injustice, venom towards Dale and despair that men had so much power at this time. Some characters are very caring and kind and that is a welcome relief. The hostile environment, hostile people, hostile weather and hostile wildlife provides a perfect backdrop to the unfolding drama and some of the descriptions of the area are superb. The alternating storylines flows well and the author matches the personality to the tone of the writing so that you get a real sense of their character. There is sensitivity and understanding in the approach to Gloria's story and you feel her pain, she refuses to be called Gloria after the rape as she is not the same person and calls herself Glory.

Overall, a wonderful and very powerful story which depicts the characters well but is also an excellent portrayal of the times and attitudes of the ‘70’s world. It’s is beautifully written and is one of those books that touches you, makes you feel what the characters feel and is most certainly a book I will remember. Highly recommended.

Special thanks to NetGalley and 4th Estate and William Collins for the ARC.

I very much enjoyed this novel about the experiences of girls and women living in a small town in Texas.