Book: Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins
Reviewed by: Nolan
Picking up a copy and looking at the back of Battleborn, it’s hard not to be interested. How does a debut novel by a young writer have promotional quotes from Joy Williams, Donald Ray Pollock, and Pulitzer Prize winning author Paul Harding? Impressive to say the least. And then there’s the cover picture of a desert that would be picturesque if it didn’t threaten to consume you whole and burn you alive. And such a gritty title, Battleborn. All parts added up, you wouldn’t expect the whole to come from a young, tenderfoot woman writer. But then again, these stories may not have been able to breath without the fearless grace of Claire Vaye Watkins.
All the stories take place in Watkins’ native Nevada desert, a place known in history as having a tendency of killing those who explore or even cross its expanse. And from the opening of Battleborn‘s first story, which basically lists examples of such damned souls, you get the impression that the characters in her stories are just as doomed. With so many souls swallowed in its centuries of settlement, Watkins’ desert is more than a dormant backdrop. It becomes a calm and dangerous entity acting as judge and jury to all who seek within it.
All who come to the Nevada desert in Battleborn are driven by a purpose. Gold in the mountains in the 1840’s, salvation for Manson family worshipers, velvet Elvises and kitschy casinos, mustang ranch hookers and jackpots. And there are the townie teenagers who can’t seem to put any distance between them and that blistering hole. You can’t help but wonder how much Claire Vaye Watkins was one of those kids. At one point, Watkins points out those well meaning folks on flights to Las Vegas who laugh at the jokes the attendants make about all they’ll lose. They have no idea.
If you’re looking for a heart-warmer here, friend you’re mistaken. If you’re looking for pulp western thrills, you also won’t find them here. Battleborn‘s fangs bite deep in a way that a talented and patient writer can orchestrate. It’s a slow and deliberate burn of sensually gritty prose. If Claire Vaye Watkins can do this with a handful of stories, I can’t wait to read a full-length novel. Keep this author on your radar.
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On my to-read list.