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Outside Valentine
A debut novelist interweaves a trio of voices-haunting, dangerous, full of longing-mysteriously linked by a shocking crime and the search to heal the past
Many long years have passed since the winter of blinding white when Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate drove across the hushed midwestern landscape and left a trail of blood and pain. So why does Lowell, a Manhattan collector of antiquities, still dream of what happened, despite his wife's best attempts to draw him back and offer comfort? And who is Susan, the teenager who appoints herself a detective, piecing together the story of the murders while wondering if she'll ever be loved like Starkweather loved his girl?
And then there's Caril Ann herself, who takes us back to relive the ride she swears she could not control. It began on the day Charlie first saw her, dangling her bare legs off the edge of a tree house. It ended outside Valentine, Nebraska, on that night when she still believed that life could somehow go back to being normal . . . '
Every so often a novel comes along that is capable of redeeming the losses it so devastatingly conveys. Disturbing, bittersweet, and lyrical, Liza Ward's Outside Valentine is a story of people torn apart by tragedy and yet, finally, transformed by love.
Many long years have passed since the winter of blinding white when Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate drove across the hushed midwestern landscape and left a trail of blood and pain. So why does Lowell, a Manhattan collector of antiquities, still dream of what happened, despite his wife's best attempts to draw him back and offer comfort? And who is Susan, the teenager who appoints herself a detective, piecing together the story of the murders while wondering if she'll ever be loved like Starkweather loved his girl?
And then there's Caril Ann herself, who takes us back to relive the ride she swears she could not control. It began on the day Charlie first saw her, dangling her bare legs off the edge of a tree house. It ended outside Valentine, Nebraska, on that night when she still believed that life could somehow go back to being normal . . . '
Every so often a novel comes along that is capable of redeeming the losses it so devastatingly conveys. Disturbing, bittersweet, and lyrical, Liza Ward's Outside Valentine is a story of people torn apart by tragedy and yet, finally, transformed by love.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
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July 28, 2017
Onvan : Outside Valentine - Nevisande : Liza Ward - ISBN : 312424892 - ISBN13 : 9780312424893 - Dar 320 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2004
March 23, 2021
Perhaps it was the bourbon, I don't know, but suddenly I saw it all so clearly. How could they expect to understand what I couldn't understand myself? I wanted to hold my children, put their heads against my chest the way I never had been able to, comfort them as so many other more competent fathers would have done. But I couldn't just walk in there and start talking about what had happened to their grandparents. To me, it had always felt like something to be ashamed of. I knew it had changed me, and yet I couldn't remember who I'd been before.
When they were younger and the time had come for me to speak about the past, I hadn't been prepared. After school one day, Hank wanted to know where my parents were. They had been writing letters in class, and several children had written to their grandparents. "What about Grandpa Bowman," I asked. "Did you write to him?" I don't know why I asked. The words had come out of nowhere. Hank, of course, had never known him and seemed mystified by my question. Grandpa Bowman, of course, was long dead and buried.
"Where is he?" Hank wanted to know.
I explained to him that all living things die, sometimes without warning. I didn't get into it any more than that.
"Was it snowing when they died?" he asked.
How could he have known? "Yes," I said. "It was so quiet and cold."
~~Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate. Ward bases her novel on the true story of their rampage of murder and terror, across Nebraska and Wyoming, from 1957-1958. It's hard to look at Caril, here, and imagine her actions in Outside Valentine . She is a complicated character.
My Two Cents: As other reviewers have mentioned, Liza Ward is the granddaughter of two of Starkweather's victims. She gives us a partially fictionalized version of the historical events, with many names changed, as well as some of the facts surrounding the actions and capture of Charles and Caril. For a first time author, she writes prose very well, and competently handled the story arc. I really liked the way she handled the multiple first person view points. We alternate between Caril Ann in 1957-58, Susan in 1962-1963, and Lowell in 1991. It's not immediately clear how these three narratives relate, but Ward quickly draws us into the interconnecting history between her characters. Multiple view point stories often fail, especially when the timeline is as spread as this one. But Ward does not. She gives each voice a unique tone and personality. And I never once felt the urge to skip ahead....nor did I have to look back to figure out where the heck the story skipped to. The history Ward gives a version of in her novel is *horrific*. Please be warned of that going in. There are dark parts in some human hearts. It's hard to understand how Caril could have been attracted to the many dark parts of Charles. Ward gives one possible answer in Caril's chapters. I also give her credit for showing how traumatic events continue to affect survivors for years, decades even, into the future. Given 4 stars or a rating of "excellent". Recommended!!
Other favorite quotes: Charles and Caril Ann were sitting on somebody's couch looking happiest of all. He had his arm around her shoulder and his head cocked to one side. Her pretty brown hair was brushed over one shoulder, and her eyes twinkled like she'd just finished laughing. They looked all tangled up in each other. I wondered if I'd ever find someone to love. I was tangled up alone.
~~We sat like that for a while, still as salt, like something would break if we so much as moved a finger.
~~Beauty seemed like a house I hadn't been invited to. It had to be constructed carefully, controlled, and I thought I was the kind of person whose hands would always be too shaky to ever pull it off.
~~Maybe she understood that I was lonesome. It was something I should have given her credit for. You should never betray the people who actually try to understand.
~~My mother and I had the same blood. It should have been easy. But I had never understood any part of her, except the inexplicable force that had driven her to Nils. Danger. Wanting to be wanted enough to pull everything down. One step sparks an avalanche. Wanting attention from someone can lead you anywhere. Love could fling you out of orbit. There was no controlling how you landed.
~~I wanted to escape all this sadness. Adults were supposed to be strong. They knew about the world, and yet that knowledge only seemed to make them weaker.
Further Reading: An interesting article that references Liza Ward, author of this novel, and granddaughter of two of Charles Starkweather's victims. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...
~~A really good article describing the true events behind this novel. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...
When they were younger and the time had come for me to speak about the past, I hadn't been prepared. After school one day, Hank wanted to know where my parents were. They had been writing letters in class, and several children had written to their grandparents. "What about Grandpa Bowman," I asked. "Did you write to him?" I don't know why I asked. The words had come out of nowhere. Hank, of course, had never known him and seemed mystified by my question. Grandpa Bowman, of course, was long dead and buried.
"Where is he?" Hank wanted to know.
I explained to him that all living things die, sometimes without warning. I didn't get into it any more than that.
"Was it snowing when they died?" he asked.
How could he have known? "Yes," I said. "It was so quiet and cold."
~~Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate. Ward bases her novel on the true story of their rampage of murder and terror, across Nebraska and Wyoming, from 1957-1958. It's hard to look at Caril, here, and imagine her actions in Outside Valentine . She is a complicated character.
My Two Cents: As other reviewers have mentioned, Liza Ward is the granddaughter of two of Starkweather's victims. She gives us a partially fictionalized version of the historical events, with many names changed, as well as some of the facts surrounding the actions and capture of Charles and Caril. For a first time author, she writes prose very well, and competently handled the story arc. I really liked the way she handled the multiple first person view points. We alternate between Caril Ann in 1957-58, Susan in 1962-1963, and Lowell in 1991. It's not immediately clear how these three narratives relate, but Ward quickly draws us into the interconnecting history between her characters. Multiple view point stories often fail, especially when the timeline is as spread as this one. But Ward does not. She gives each voice a unique tone and personality. And I never once felt the urge to skip ahead....nor did I have to look back to figure out where the heck the story skipped to. The history Ward gives a version of in her novel is *horrific*. Please be warned of that going in. There are dark parts in some human hearts. It's hard to understand how Caril could have been attracted to the many dark parts of Charles. Ward gives one possible answer in Caril's chapters. I also give her credit for showing how traumatic events continue to affect survivors for years, decades even, into the future. Given 4 stars or a rating of "excellent". Recommended!!
Other favorite quotes: Charles and Caril Ann were sitting on somebody's couch looking happiest of all. He had his arm around her shoulder and his head cocked to one side. Her pretty brown hair was brushed over one shoulder, and her eyes twinkled like she'd just finished laughing. They looked all tangled up in each other. I wondered if I'd ever find someone to love. I was tangled up alone.
~~We sat like that for a while, still as salt, like something would break if we so much as moved a finger.
~~Beauty seemed like a house I hadn't been invited to. It had to be constructed carefully, controlled, and I thought I was the kind of person whose hands would always be too shaky to ever pull it off.
~~Maybe she understood that I was lonesome. It was something I should have given her credit for. You should never betray the people who actually try to understand.
~~My mother and I had the same blood. It should have been easy. But I had never understood any part of her, except the inexplicable force that had driven her to Nils. Danger. Wanting to be wanted enough to pull everything down. One step sparks an avalanche. Wanting attention from someone can lead you anywhere. Love could fling you out of orbit. There was no controlling how you landed.
~~I wanted to escape all this sadness. Adults were supposed to be strong. They knew about the world, and yet that knowledge only seemed to make them weaker.
Further Reading: An interesting article that references Liza Ward, author of this novel, and granddaughter of two of Charles Starkweather's victims. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...
~~A really good article describing the true events behind this novel. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...
December 1, 2022
Love love love!
Nebraska Library Commission Book Club Spotlight - December 6th, 2022
For 60 days in the winter of 1957-1958, Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate raced across Nebraska and Wyoming, leaving 11 dead in their wake. As one of America’s most infamous and widely-reported killing sprees, Starkweather and Fugate are immortalized through movies, music, and literature. And Liza Ward, the granddaughter of two victims, Lauer and Clara Ward, decided it was time to tell the story from a new perspective. Her 2004 novel Outside Valentine is the story of her family and the trauma that has consumed it for generations. But instead of focusing on the notorious Starkweather, this novel takes a step back, concentrating on Caril Ann and those he left behind in a stunning re-telling of what happened that winter.
Outside Valentine is a fictional account of the Starkweather killing spree, following the three narrators simultaneously. One narrator, Caril Ann Fugate, is a disenfranchised impressionable 14-year-old who finds solace and a desperate love with 19-year-old Charles Starkweather. Their romance soon burns too hot when he takes Caril on a joyride, murdering her family and anyone found in the way of that love. Four years later, the story follows Susan Hurst, who finds herself obsessively reading about the killing spree, envious of the pair’s violent love. Desperate for this kind of love and recognition, she lives a lonely life with her emotionally distant parents, all the while harboring a secret obsession for the surviving son of the Bowmans (the fictionalized Lauer and Clara Ward), whom she has never met. The son, Lowell Bowman, is our third narrator, who, 30 years later, is still dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy. Unable to cope, he runs away from his wife and children, both from and to his past.
Outside Valentine is an engaging and lyrical read that isn’t quite “true crime” but still has that thrilling air. Because the story takes place over 30 years, the reader follows how Fugate and Starkweather’s actions spiral bigger than just themselves. Ward creates an atmosphere that sucks you in so deeply and wholly that you forget where you are. And the stark winter setting makes this a perfect book club selection coming into the colder months. Book club groups, especially those here in Nebraska, will find plenty to discuss in how Ward uses the setting to instill her characters with deep longing and isolation. She does an incredible job of identifying the true loneliness of being a young girl and the dark side of romanticism.
While both were found guilty and Starkweather sentenced to death, Caril Ann Fugate spent 17 years in prison on a murder conviction before she was paroled in 1976. In 2020, With her father’s support, Liza Ward advocated for Fugate’s pardon, believing her grandparents “would want people to know the truth,” and that it is “time to show that young girl’s stories are worth being listened to.” And she gives young girls that opportunity in Outside Valentine.
Nebraska Library Commission Book Club Spotlight - December 6th, 2022
For 60 days in the winter of 1957-1958, Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate raced across Nebraska and Wyoming, leaving 11 dead in their wake. As one of America’s most infamous and widely-reported killing sprees, Starkweather and Fugate are immortalized through movies, music, and literature. And Liza Ward, the granddaughter of two victims, Lauer and Clara Ward, decided it was time to tell the story from a new perspective. Her 2004 novel Outside Valentine is the story of her family and the trauma that has consumed it for generations. But instead of focusing on the notorious Starkweather, this novel takes a step back, concentrating on Caril Ann and those he left behind in a stunning re-telling of what happened that winter.
Outside Valentine is a fictional account of the Starkweather killing spree, following the three narrators simultaneously. One narrator, Caril Ann Fugate, is a disenfranchised impressionable 14-year-old who finds solace and a desperate love with 19-year-old Charles Starkweather. Their romance soon burns too hot when he takes Caril on a joyride, murdering her family and anyone found in the way of that love. Four years later, the story follows Susan Hurst, who finds herself obsessively reading about the killing spree, envious of the pair’s violent love. Desperate for this kind of love and recognition, she lives a lonely life with her emotionally distant parents, all the while harboring a secret obsession for the surviving son of the Bowmans (the fictionalized Lauer and Clara Ward), whom she has never met. The son, Lowell Bowman, is our third narrator, who, 30 years later, is still dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy. Unable to cope, he runs away from his wife and children, both from and to his past.
Outside Valentine is an engaging and lyrical read that isn’t quite “true crime” but still has that thrilling air. Because the story takes place over 30 years, the reader follows how Fugate and Starkweather’s actions spiral bigger than just themselves. Ward creates an atmosphere that sucks you in so deeply and wholly that you forget where you are. And the stark winter setting makes this a perfect book club selection coming into the colder months. Book club groups, especially those here in Nebraska, will find plenty to discuss in how Ward uses the setting to instill her characters with deep longing and isolation. She does an incredible job of identifying the true loneliness of being a young girl and the dark side of romanticism.
While both were found guilty and Starkweather sentenced to death, Caril Ann Fugate spent 17 years in prison on a murder conviction before she was paroled in 1976. In 2020, With her father’s support, Liza Ward advocated for Fugate’s pardon, believing her grandparents “would want people to know the truth,” and that it is “time to show that young girl’s stories are worth being listened to.” And she gives young girls that opportunity in Outside Valentine.
April 9, 2012
Ward's storytelling is something like Alice Hoffman's, with darker moments out of Joyce Carol Oates. There are long internal passages as characters think, feel, and wonder restlessly, yearning for love, attention, someone - anyone - to care about them and lift the veil of loneliness surrounding them. When they talk to each other, they seldom say what they really mean. Their world is frozen like the deep Nebraska winter of 1958, in which the Starkweather murders take place.
The theme of loneliness, emotional abandonment, and the obsessive desire for love are played out in several story lines, all reflections of young Caril Ann Fugate's fatal attraction to the boy with a gun who romances her and draws her along in his bloody wake. Readers who find her parts of the novel compelling (and they are), will discover that Ward devotes far more of the book to less dramatic characters and situations, which are interesting only as they parallel or intersect with the account of Caril Ann and Charlie. Crime fiction fans will find these stretches of the novel slow going.
Curiously, Ward reimagines the Starkweather-Fugate story - as if the actual events lack a narrative integrity of their own. The two young people were eventually arrested not "outside Valentine" but in Douglas, Wyoming, after fleeing across the entire length of Nebraska. Readers interested in the story of that flight will find instead a more reflective and thoughtful study of the human heart.
The theme of loneliness, emotional abandonment, and the obsessive desire for love are played out in several story lines, all reflections of young Caril Ann Fugate's fatal attraction to the boy with a gun who romances her and draws her along in his bloody wake. Readers who find her parts of the novel compelling (and they are), will discover that Ward devotes far more of the book to less dramatic characters and situations, which are interesting only as they parallel or intersect with the account of Caril Ann and Charlie. Crime fiction fans will find these stretches of the novel slow going.
Curiously, Ward reimagines the Starkweather-Fugate story - as if the actual events lack a narrative integrity of their own. The two young people were eventually arrested not "outside Valentine" but in Douglas, Wyoming, after fleeing across the entire length of Nebraska. Readers interested in the story of that flight will find instead a more reflective and thoughtful study of the human heart.
August 23, 2023
Read this in college but had forgotten a lot of it when a friend picked it for our book club. I found it very engaging in some parts and meandering in others. Last bit of it was very good though. 6.5/10
June 23, 2009
I'm not sure this book belongs in the non-fiction category. I was about half way through when I realized the author is the granddaughter of the Lincoln couple that was murdered. Ward has taken a tragic real life event and somewhat fictionalized it. Changed the names of the characters, not covered all the details. She writes from three perspectives = one of the perpetrators, Caril Ann Fugate, the Lincoln couple's son, and the son's wife. I was curious how much the figures in Liza Ward's story were based on any research, interviews, personal experience, or if they were imagined. Regardless, I thought the characterizations were well done, the piece was atmospheric. Starkweather and Fugate obviously came from dysfunctional familites. You can't identify with them, nor would their lack of normalcy ever excuse the crimes. However, the victims' survivors develop a dysfunctionality of their own. I can't begin to imagine how anyone would survive the violent murder of a family member. Dismal story, well told. I am have been transplanted into NE. Its surprising there are people who have clear memories of this case. So I went looking for some research after reading this.
December 30, 2010
Really enjoyed the style of writing and I liked the movement from character to character. I couldn't put it down. I loved how things ended in the last chapter.
February 25, 2015
2.5 stars This book tried a little too hard for me. It was also even more upsetting than I expected from the subject matter. Not bad, per se, just too much.
February 13, 2019
I admire the way Ward pulled together three distinct viewpoints--of children and an adult--in order to explore the repercussions of a wave of murders taken from history, as well as the murders themselves to a certain extent, but the suspense and mystery that the blurb suggests exist in this book are, to a large extent, more imagined than written. As artful as Ward's writing is, this is a literary juxtaposition of viewpoints and ages in relation to a particular set of crimes, and the flat, harsh, ease of the prose actually lessens what might have come across as shocking crimes, making the whole of the book's events feel rather more ordinary than they truly should. I'm also, I admit, not wholly sure where love comes into play--more than love, this book is an examination of apathy and discomfort, and though I hate to say it, I couldn't bring myself to care enough about the apathetic characters to be bothered by the fact that They were at turns obsessed with and at turns haunted by the murders.
I don't think this book will stay with me long, and I can't really see myself recommending it unless someone is specifically setting out to look for literary fiction inspired by true crime. The language just wasn't enough to carry the book for me, lovely as it was, and I often found myself more bored or annoyed with the book than anything.
I don't see myself picking up another of Ward's books.
I don't think this book will stay with me long, and I can't really see myself recommending it unless someone is specifically setting out to look for literary fiction inspired by true crime. The language just wasn't enough to carry the book for me, lovely as it was, and I often found myself more bored or annoyed with the book than anything.
I don't see myself picking up another of Ward's books.
September 17, 2020
I struggled with finishing this book because I was not sure what was fiction and what was nonfiction as I read. I know Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate are real and murdered people but I suppose all the other information is simply creativity. Very difficult to determine. The novel was about 1/10 on Starkweather while most of it was on Lowell, the son of a murdered couple, and Susan, a neighbor girl whose mother abandoned the family. Some of the book was about what Caril Ann “might” have been like. A lot of tragedy, especially reading the book!
December 28, 2025
Beautifully written. Just gorgeous. However, it was quite difficult sometimes to follow the action, as the author went back and forth in time - labeling each chapter by the date, from 1991 to 1962 and back to 1959, etc etc. I like how she reveals the unraveling story, but somehow more clarity would be nice. As a reader, I had to really work to remember characters.
May 31, 2020
It took me forever and a day to get through this one. I only stuck with it because I was waiting for a dramatic change in the slow pace of the story.
Wrong, so very wrong.
😴😴
Wrong, so very wrong.
😴😴
July 22, 2022
Nothing special but well written
I found the shifts between Caril and Susan confusing at times but always figured it out
I found the shifts between Caril and Susan confusing at times but always figured it out
January 9, 2023
Quick and easy read
April 21, 2023
It was difficult to follow the stories until you figured out which year belonged to which story. As well for me, once I realized all 3 stories were entertwined it made reading the story easier.
June 2, 2026
Solid writing, but unfulfilling
June 26, 2026
I was in 8th grade when Charlie Starkweather went on his killing rampage in Nebraska. This book takes a personal look at the people involved.
December 25, 2016
After a long string of DNF novels (most of which I didn't even note on here because I didn't get past the first couple of pages on them), this book proved to be interesting. Ward's novel about the Starkweather murder spree across Nebraska in 1957-1958 encompassed three narrative viewpoints: Caril Fugate, Charlie Starkweather's teenaged girlfriend; Lowell Bowman, son of the rich couple slain in their Lincoln home (although Ward sets their house in Valentine); and Susan, a young girl fascinated in 1962 by the Starkweather crimes, particularly the murder of Lowell's parents. All the narratives tie in together at the end.
Ward does a good job of balancing the three views in first person, making each voice unique enough that you can tell who is who without the identifiers at the head of each chapter. She also has some absolutely breathtaking descriptions in the story, so the prose part works well. I had a harder time connecting to Lowell's sections because he often came off rather self-centered, but Susan and Caril I had no problem with. All three characters are immensely lonely...Caril falls in with Charlie Starkweather after she feels like no one understands her at home. Susan's mother walks out on Susan and Susan's father because she feels stifled by the small-town atmosphere of Valentine. Susan is left trying to understand her mother's departure and in the course of her obsession with the Bowman murders (and Lowell), she befriends the girl who lives in the house next to the Bowmans' home, just so she can watch their house and wonder about Lowell. She realizes even in the friend's home, family doesn't always mean togetherness, it can also mean feeling alone among your blood relation. Lowell's sections are set in 1991 and he reflects back on his marriage, wondering if he ever really loved his wife at all. He's also left wondering about his parents' marriage as he looks over the contents of a shoebox he retrieved from a safe deposit box. I would've liked that angle to play out a little earlier in his sections because it felt like too much time was spent on him moping over his marriage, while ignoring until the end the truths of his own parents' marriage, which set the foundation for how he viewed relationships in the future.
And here's the other issues I had with the book. Ward stays mostly true to the Starkweather case as far as timeline goes and as far as the real life names of Starkweather's victims...EXCEPT the Bowmans. The Bowmans in real life were C. Lauer Ward and his wife, Clara Ward (along with their maid, Lillian Fencl). Liza Ward is the granddaughter of C. Lauer Ward and the Lowell character is based on her father, Michael, who was the Wards' only child (he was away at school during the murders and was thus spared from Starkweather's spree). Why in the world would Ward change the names of her grandparents and her father, but leave intact the real names of the other victims? She wrote the book with her father's permission, so it wasn't done to protect either him or her grandparents. That was the first thing that kind of jolted me in the book.
The other thing was the rewrite of how Starkweather and Fugate were captured. In the book, she has them being captured on a farm outside of Valentine. In real life, Starkweather was captured after leading the cops on a chase in Douglas, Wyoming. They shot out the windshield of his car and a piece of glass cut him, making him think he'd been shot and was going to die. He then pulled over and gave up. The real life capture was much more intense than the fictionalized capture that Ward wrote and the result was a rather blah finale to the Fugate/Starkweather arc. And I don't know why Ward went with such a disappointing ending...as a true crime buff, I found it annoying as hell because you'd have THOUGHT she would've maintained historical accuracy in a book based on the real life crimes. Of course, Truman Capote took creative liberties with the facts of the Clutter murder case in "In Cold Blood", so maybe Ward chose to take liberties as well in hopes of emulating Capote.
Ward does a good job of balancing the three views in first person, making each voice unique enough that you can tell who is who without the identifiers at the head of each chapter. She also has some absolutely breathtaking descriptions in the story, so the prose part works well. I had a harder time connecting to Lowell's sections because he often came off rather self-centered, but Susan and Caril I had no problem with. All three characters are immensely lonely...Caril falls in with Charlie Starkweather after she feels like no one understands her at home. Susan's mother walks out on Susan and Susan's father because she feels stifled by the small-town atmosphere of Valentine. Susan is left trying to understand her mother's departure and in the course of her obsession with the Bowman murders (and Lowell), she befriends the girl who lives in the house next to the Bowmans' home, just so she can watch their house and wonder about Lowell. She realizes even in the friend's home, family doesn't always mean togetherness, it can also mean feeling alone among your blood relation. Lowell's sections are set in 1991 and he reflects back on his marriage, wondering if he ever really loved his wife at all. He's also left wondering about his parents' marriage as he looks over the contents of a shoebox he retrieved from a safe deposit box. I would've liked that angle to play out a little earlier in his sections because it felt like too much time was spent on him moping over his marriage, while ignoring until the end the truths of his own parents' marriage, which set the foundation for how he viewed relationships in the future.
And here's the other issues I had with the book. Ward stays mostly true to the Starkweather case as far as timeline goes and as far as the real life names of Starkweather's victims...EXCEPT the Bowmans. The Bowmans in real life were C. Lauer Ward and his wife, Clara Ward (along with their maid, Lillian Fencl). Liza Ward is the granddaughter of C. Lauer Ward and the Lowell character is based on her father, Michael, who was the Wards' only child (he was away at school during the murders and was thus spared from Starkweather's spree). Why in the world would Ward change the names of her grandparents and her father, but leave intact the real names of the other victims? She wrote the book with her father's permission, so it wasn't done to protect either him or her grandparents. That was the first thing that kind of jolted me in the book.
The other thing was the rewrite of how Starkweather and Fugate were captured. In the book, she has them being captured on a farm outside of Valentine. In real life, Starkweather was captured after leading the cops on a chase in Douglas, Wyoming. They shot out the windshield of his car and a piece of glass cut him, making him think he'd been shot and was going to die. He then pulled over and gave up. The real life capture was much more intense than the fictionalized capture that Ward wrote and the result was a rather blah finale to the Fugate/Starkweather arc. And I don't know why Ward went with such a disappointing ending...as a true crime buff, I found it annoying as hell because you'd have THOUGHT she would've maintained historical accuracy in a book based on the real life crimes. Of course, Truman Capote took creative liberties with the facts of the Clutter murder case in "In Cold Blood", so maybe Ward chose to take liberties as well in hopes of emulating Capote.
January 10, 2008
Liza Ward, Outside Valentine (Henry Holt, 2004)
Outside Valentine is pretty much tailor-made for me. I'm a sucker for the subject matter (three stories paralleling the killing spree of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate), the book was released by a major press but dropped off the radar after getting almost no publicity at all, and a whole lot of critics liked it a whole lot. And yet I've spent the last couple of years trying to get myself to like it and failing miserably. It's not that the book is badly-written, but there's not a single character in here, not even Caril Ann Fugate, who makes me care what's going to happen here, and the only plot point with any suspense surrounding it at all is the contents of the safe-deposit box in the 1991 story. And even that wasn't enough to keep me going past the halfway point. There are a slew of well-drawn characters here who are simply wandering aimlessly through their settings. (And even Terence Malick was capable of making Starkweather and Fugate wander aimlessly through Badlands in a compelling manner.) November is always them month where I go through and prune the reading list of stuff I simply can't bear to read any longer. I axed five books this year, which is a new high for me. Of all of them, Outside Valentine is the one I most regret, but there's way too much reading to do for me to try and force myself to finish this one. (zero)
Outside Valentine is pretty much tailor-made for me. I'm a sucker for the subject matter (three stories paralleling the killing spree of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate), the book was released by a major press but dropped off the radar after getting almost no publicity at all, and a whole lot of critics liked it a whole lot. And yet I've spent the last couple of years trying to get myself to like it and failing miserably. It's not that the book is badly-written, but there's not a single character in here, not even Caril Ann Fugate, who makes me care what's going to happen here, and the only plot point with any suspense surrounding it at all is the contents of the safe-deposit box in the 1991 story. And even that wasn't enough to keep me going past the halfway point. There are a slew of well-drawn characters here who are simply wandering aimlessly through their settings. (And even Terence Malick was capable of making Starkweather and Fugate wander aimlessly through Badlands in a compelling manner.) November is always them month where I go through and prune the reading list of stuff I simply can't bear to read any longer. I axed five books this year, which is a new high for me. Of all of them, Outside Valentine is the one I most regret, but there's way too much reading to do for me to try and force myself to finish this one. (zero)
January 29, 2011
This book is what I guess you'd call "fact-based fiction", based on the Charles Starkweather/Caril Ann Fugate killing spree in Nebraska in 1958.
It is told from the point of view of Caril, Lowell (son of two of the victims), and Susan (a young girl who is obsessed with the murders and later marries Lowell). It tells how the murders affected families, friends, and neighbors for generations after they took place.
I remember these events well since I lived only about 20 miles away from Lincoln. I was attending a small rural school at the time and I remember we kept the license plate number of the car they were purported to be in written on the black board. We had this plan for what we'd do if they came to our school. Seems like it involved hiding behing the door with a ball bat. Since Caril was only a few years older than I was, I could never believe she was a willing accomplice to the killing.
And apparently that is also the attitude of the author. That's surprising because she is actually the granddaughter of two of the victims, Lauer and Clara Ward (called the Bowmans in the book).
One thing that puzzled me most of the way through the book was why it was titled Outside Valentine since Starkweater and Fugate were never near Valentine, they were captured near Douglas, Wyoming. Maybe the author just thought that made a more interesting title.
It is told from the point of view of Caril, Lowell (son of two of the victims), and Susan (a young girl who is obsessed with the murders and later marries Lowell). It tells how the murders affected families, friends, and neighbors for generations after they took place.
I remember these events well since I lived only about 20 miles away from Lincoln. I was attending a small rural school at the time and I remember we kept the license plate number of the car they were purported to be in written on the black board. We had this plan for what we'd do if they came to our school. Seems like it involved hiding behing the door with a ball bat. Since Caril was only a few years older than I was, I could never believe she was a willing accomplice to the killing.
And apparently that is also the attitude of the author. That's surprising because she is actually the granddaughter of two of the victims, Lauer and Clara Ward (called the Bowmans in the book).
One thing that puzzled me most of the way through the book was why it was titled Outside Valentine since Starkweater and Fugate were never near Valentine, they were captured near Douglas, Wyoming. Maybe the author just thought that made a more interesting title.
January 14, 2015
In 1957 in Lincoln, Nebraska, Charlie Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate went on a killing spree that ended the life of 11 people. Caril Ann is one of the narrators of this fiction novel based on the crime. She narrates the 1957 section while a young girl named "Puggy" tells the story of 1962. Puggy lives a few blocks away from the home of 3 of the muder victims and she has developed an obsession with the crime and the teenaged son who was away at boarding school when the murderers entered his home. In the 1991 section, we meet Lowell, a middle-aged husband and father who has never had a closeness with his wife or children. The three stories have a thread in common and the story jumps between the three narrators throughout the book.
This is probably one of the most depressing books I have ever read and it was a struggle to finish it. Of course the murders cast a large shadow over the story but no one, and I do mean not a single person, is ever happy for 5 minutes. This was certainly not what I had expected.
This is probably one of the most depressing books I have ever read and it was a struggle to finish it. Of course the murders cast a large shadow over the story but no one, and I do mean not a single person, is ever happy for 5 minutes. This was certainly not what I had expected.
October 10, 2008
I didn't realize this was based on a real-life tragedy, but the idea that this story did actually happen sends chills down my spine. This is completely different than most books I read, and the story reminded me of Monster, because it seemed like these two killers simply got ahead of themselves and didn't have any way to get out of the muck they'd dug their wheels into. it was interesting, and certainly a good read, but I just can't fall in love with stories that depress me and have no good redeeming value. No one is completely sympathetic, and although the murderers have been severely wounded by the adults in their lives, they seemingly possess no mercy or kindness in their own hearts. I also have a hard time loving stories wiht several narrators and although the author does well, I had a hard time figuring out how the caried people all fit together at first. Worth reading, not worth going crazy about.
March 24, 2016
I found this book at the Goodwill...great place to find good books! The story is told from different perspectives. Caril Ann is a young impressionable teen when Charlie finds her in a tree house. Charlie is a murderous young man and takes her along on a rampage. Susan is a lonely teenager who is facinated by the story of Charlie Starkweather and Caril Ann, and years later she befriends the lonely girl that lives next door to the house where Starkweather killed a wife and husband. Lowell is the man whose parents were killed by Starkweather when he was just a young boy, and as an adult, his life is falling apart. This is a disturbing story but there are redeeming qualities in seeing how Lowell comes to terms with what happened to his family, the role Susan played in that, and Caril Ann's rehabilitation.
June 6, 2008
This was an interesting book. I was 16 years old when the Charles Starkweather/Caril Fugate rampage took place, and it traumatized me. Growing up in a small town in Eastern Colorado I related to the story completely.
I didn't realize until later when I googled some research that Liza Ward is actually a granddaughter of the couple that was murdered in Lincoln, Nebraska. She changed the names of the victims in the book, so I didn't pick up on the relationship. I would be interested if anyone felt as I did, that two generations later, there are still scars left from such a tragic death of her grandparents. I would have liked a little more information, but Liza chose not to do a lot of research, so she imagined most of the story.
I didn't realize until later when I googled some research that Liza Ward is actually a granddaughter of the couple that was murdered in Lincoln, Nebraska. She changed the names of the victims in the book, so I didn't pick up on the relationship. I would be interested if anyone felt as I did, that two generations later, there are still scars left from such a tragic death of her grandparents. I would have liked a little more information, but Liza chose not to do a lot of research, so she imagined most of the story.
November 14, 2008
When I started this book, I found it confusing, as the author wrote in the first person, but from three different characters point of view. It didn't take long for me to adjust to the differing voices, though, as they were very distinctive. As I reached the last half of the book, I found it hard to put down.
Much of the material was frightening to read, but was written with so much honesty and realism that it was riveting. I only wish that Susan had been more developed as an adult. I kept wondering what she was thinking in all the time that Lowe was gone.
Much of the material was frightening to read, but was written with so much honesty and realism that it was riveting. I only wish that Susan had been more developed as an adult. I kept wondering what she was thinking in all the time that Lowe was gone.
June 10, 2009
Dark and cold, just like the cover. A fictionalized account of a true crime (murders in 1958; didn't know this was based on a real even until I finished the book). It took me a long time to get into the shifting narrative; and even longer to latch onto any of the characters. I didn't truly care about any of them until the very end of the book, and then only barely. There was a very detached feeling to the whole thing. Nonetheless the prose itself was quite lovely and I am glad to have read it.
January 10, 2013
I had no idea this novel was based on real life events! Had I known the murder story was true I may have been more intrigued. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the story of Starkweather and Fugate far more than the love story between the two main characters. I was disappointed by the ending. I was hoping for something much more dramatic or tragic to happen to the couple, just as Starkweather's and Fugate's fates were.
June 17, 2007
This disappointed me. I wanted to like it more, but I found the non-Caril Ann parts boring and frustrating. His mother's jewelry was in the box? So? I might be missing some symbolism there, but it was such a let down.
I will say that the part where Cora finds her cat dead was incredibly heartbreaking. The "He's real to me. He's Cinders" line really stuck with me.
I will say that the part where Cora finds her cat dead was incredibly heartbreaking. The "He's real to me. He's Cinders" line really stuck with me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2007
Dysfunctional relationships lay the foundation for this novel. Multiple, overlapping stories from different times over a 50 year period are woven together in the story. One of them is told from the point of view of Caril Ann Fugate famous for her involvement in the Starkweather serial killings. Interesting once you get involved in the story, which takes a bit of time.
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