InWonder Valley, drifters of various stripes make jaunts out west.
Its liberating but disruptive, rhythmic yet bizarre.
The story spins out in several directions from the prologue.
Credit: Ecco
Their stories collide, if only briefly that their narratives are all entwined feels cosmic.
Pochodas sharpness as a writer comes through in her patience.
Yet uniquely, revelations arrive without announcement; pivotal moments quietly creep into paragraphs.
The ending is magnificently unexpected, almost ingenious, and the surprise factor sneaks up on you.
Its subtle brilliance is just that subtle.
Pochoda demonstrates range in her vivid illustrations of diverse communities.
Theyre threaded with an underlying melancholy blots of darkness spotlighted by the blue sky.
Theres heartbreak and disappointment to spare inWonder Valley, and every character is rendered with empathy.
Each element in the story has texture, from the weather to the architecture to the people inhabiting it.
The book tells an essential truth: Everybodys running from something.B+
