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Outside Valentine by Liza Ward
Outside Valentine is based on the true story of the 1957 killing spree by Charlie Starkweather and his 14-year-old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate. The novel is told from three perspectives, the first being Caril Ann's, a young girl captivated by an older boy and along for the ride during the murders. The second narrator is a girl named Puggy, who in the years after the murders, is fascinated by the boy next door, Lowell Bowman, whose parents were killed by Starkweather. The third narrator is Lowell himself, 19 years later, battling loneliness and drink while his wife and family desperately want him to love them. Liza Ward, whose grandparents were killed in the spree and who based the character of Lowell on her father, brings to life the effects the senseless violence has on many lives. Outside Valentine has received positive reviews with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer saying, "Outside Valentine is a powerful meditation on the impact of violence across generations, as well as a testament to the undeniable fascination that horrible tragedies engender."
