Lord of California

Set in a future California that has declared itself an independent republic following the disbanding of the United States, Valencia’s gritty debut novel chronicles a family’s struggle to survive. The novel is divided into three sections, each told from the viewpoint of a main character: Ellie, one of 12 children born to a bigamist father, five of whose wives and families became aware of each other after his death; Elliot, the estranged older son of a sixth wife previously unknown to the other family members; and Anthony, Ellie’s stepbrother and confidant, whose religious convictions give the tale its moral center. Following their patriarch’s death, the five Temple families band together to secure land in the San Joaquin Valley that they can farm communally to continue their hardscrabble existences. That plan is threatened when Elliot, a coastal elite like his father, contests their property rights, setting in motion a showdown that pits family members against one another. Valencia keeps the focus of his novel intimate, skillfully suggesting a nation in chaos through tensions in the Temple family. His plot takes an unexpected turn in the concluding section, with the burden of the family’s fate falling almost entirely on Ellie and Anthony’s shoulders. It’s not completely convincing, but the prospect of personal redemption at the conclusion is a fine grace note to this bracing, tense tale. (Jan.)