Evidence of V: A Novel in Fragments, Facts, and Fictions

Fiction. Hybrid Genre. Women's Studies. Criminal Justice Studies. 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.

Author: Sheila O'Connor
Publisher: Rose Metal Press
Published: 10/15/2019
Pages: 280
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.70w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9781941628195


Award: Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards - Winner


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 11/18/2019
Foreword 06/17/2020

About the Author
O'Connor, Sheila: - Sheila O'Connor is the author of six award-winning novels for adults and young people. Her books include Where No Gods Came, winner of the Minnesota Book Award and the Michigan Prize for Literary Fiction, and Sparrow Road, winner of the International Reading Award. Her novels have been included on Best Books of the Year lists by Booklist, VOYA, Book Page, and the Chicago Public Library, among others. O'Connor received her MFA in Poetry from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, and her work across genres has been recognized with the Loft Literary Center's McKnight Fellowship, two Bush Artist Fellowships, and several Artist Initiative grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board. She is a professor in the Creative Writing Programs at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she serves as fiction editor for Water-Stone Review.

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