FICTION

Wonder Valley

by Ivy Pochoda
Ecco: HarperCollins. Nov. 2017. 336p. ISBN 9780062656353. $26.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062656377. F
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During 2006–10, a disparate cast of characters converges in the streets of Los Angeles and the desert outside the city. This is not the glamorous L.A. of Hollywood, palm trees, and swimming pools. Instead, we follow a young man recently released from juvenile detention in search of his mother who has become homeless; a dubious spiritual leader, his family, and a collection of college-age "interns" inhabiting a communal chicken farm; a pair of criminals on the lam; and a corporate lawyer having an existential crisis. All are connected to a bizarre incident on the freeway in ways that are not apparent until at least 70 pages in, with the nonlinear time line and lack of a central character making it somewhat challenging to get a grasp of the story and its forward momentum.
VERDICT Despite the initial confusion, Pochoda (Visitation Sheet) takes readers places they don't often see with authenticity and clarity. Her description of the daily lives of the urban homeless is particularly vivid and sympathetic. Each of the main characters does achieve some sort of peace or resolution by the dark and often violent book's end. [See Prepub Alert, 5/15/17.]
Reviewed by Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis , Sep 15, 2017
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