A broken romantic relationship propels a disillusioned young
woman back to her hometown of Fresno, Calif., in Katherine Taylor's vivid, enjoyable
second novel, Valley Fever. This story of
family, friendship, loyalty and betrayal is narrated by sharp-witted,
30-something Ingrid Palamede, who settles into the colorful backdrop of the
Central Valley and her family's faltering 20,000-acre riverside
vineyard--Palamede Farms. The vineyard has a storied history: Ingrid's father,
Ned, inherited his first hundred acres and, over the years, kept buying and
cultivating more land. But the farm is now in financial trouble, Ned is ill and
Ingrid's mother is contemptuous. With plenty of free time now, Ingrid offers to
help. Is she the savior the farm needs?
As she becomes embroiled in the small-town landscape that shaped her, Ingrid revisits her past, brushing up against an old flame, an estranged best friend and an employee suspected of stealing from the farm. Ingrid's sister, Anne--a successful voice-over actress in Los Angeles who would do anything for her--is leery about Ingrid's plight. And then there's "Uncle" Felix, Ned's oldest and dearest friend, another vintner, who makes his living by purchasing grapes from other farmers--including the Palamedes. With Ingrid in charge, will Felix hold up his end of the bargain, or will sour grapes and self-interest trump professional bonds?
Taylor (Rules for Saying Goodbye) delivers a vivid, bittersweet, entertaining drama that harvests ripe truths about self-discovery, the workings of the heart and the tangled vines of families and fortunes.
As she becomes embroiled in the small-town landscape that shaped her, Ingrid revisits her past, brushing up against an old flame, an estranged best friend and an employee suspected of stealing from the farm. Ingrid's sister, Anne--a successful voice-over actress in Los Angeles who would do anything for her--is leery about Ingrid's plight. And then there's "Uncle" Felix, Ned's oldest and dearest friend, another vintner, who makes his living by purchasing grapes from other farmers--including the Palamedes. With Ingrid in charge, will Felix hold up his end of the bargain, or will sour grapes and self-interest trump professional bonds?
Taylor (Rules for Saying Goodbye) delivers a vivid, bittersweet, entertaining drama that harvests ripe truths about self-discovery, the workings of the heart and the tangled vines of families and fortunes.
Farrar, Straus &
Giroux, $26 Hardcover, 9780374299149, 304 pp
Publication Date: June
9, 2015
Note: This review is
a reprint and is being posted (in a slightly different form) with the
permission of Shelf
Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (6/30/15),
click HERE