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Evidence of V

A Novel in Fragments, Facts, and Fictions

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

In an ambitious blend of fact and fiction, including family secrets, documents from the era, and a thin, fragmentary case file unsealed by the court, novelist Sheila O'Connor tells the riveting story of V, a talented fifteen-year-old singer in 1930s Minneapolis who aspires to be a star. Drawing on the little-known American practice of incarcerating adolescent girls for "immorality" in the first half of the twentieth century, O'Connor follows young V from her early work as a nightclub entertainer to her subsequent six-year state school sentence for an unplanned pregnancy. As V struggles to survive within a system only nominally committed to rescue and reform, she endures injustices that will change the course of her life and the lives of her descendants. Inspired by O'Connor's research on her unknown maternal grandmother and the long-term effects of intergenerational trauma, Evidence of V: A Novel in Fragments, Facts, and Fictions is a poignant excavation of familial and national history that remains disturbingly relevant—a harrowing story of exploitation and erasure, and the infinite ways in which girls, past and present, are punished for crimes they didn't commit. O'Connor's collage novel offers an engaging balance between illuminating a shameful and hidden chapter of American history and captivating the reader with the vivid and unforgettable character of V.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 18, 2019
      This introspective tale from O’Connor (Until Tomorrow, Mr. Mars) explores and imagines the difficult life of the author’s maternal grandmother. When O’Connor was in her late 40s, she and her mother, June, were given access to June’s sealed adoption record. They discovered that, in 1935, when June’s birth mother, V, was a pregnant 15-year-old, she was committed to the Minnesota Home for Girls, Sauk Centre. In riveting juxtaposition of prose and historical research, O’Connor recreates an almost Atwoodian reality where girls, some as young as eight or nine, were labeled “sex delinquents” and forced to reside in group homes designed to reform and domesticate them. Using the details in June’s adoption file, O’Connor imagines the circumstances that may have led to V’s employment as a “showgirl” at Minneapolis’s Cascade Club. The story follows V’s intimate relationship with 35-year-old Mr. C, her attempt to escape Sauk Centre, the forced adoption of June after three months of state-enforced breastfeeding, V’s escape from working as hired help in a wealthy household, and the tragic end of her life soon after. V’s harrowing tale highlights the stark reality of an all-too-recent past where victims of sexual abuse were scapegoated for their perpetrator’s crimes. O’Connor’s engrossing, powerful narrative will appeal to those who enjoy the work of Amy Bloom.

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  • English

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