During my attendance at the book launch event for Darcy Coates’ latest release, Dead of Winter, I had the privilege of meeting the esteemed Danielle Valentine. As a fellow panelist alongside Ms. Coates, Ms. Valentine immediately captivated me with her intellect, charisma, and unique insights into her artistic craft. I was fortunate to be among the select few to receive an advanced copy of her upcoming work, “Delicate Condition,” which is set to be featured in the next season of American Horror Story.
Delicate Condition was absolutely gripping, like a tooth hanging onto the last fleshy piece of your gums. You wanted to yank it off as you felt for main character Anna as she struggled to find a listener among the listening during her arounds of IVF and pregnancy. Anna felt, gaslit, empathized, or brushed off by her husband, doctors, and friends after suffering one traumatic event after another. I’d love to tie Misogyny into play, but women, who also understood a woman’s body treated her feelings lightly and summed it up to her trauma and not looking at the picture. Anna, being cognitive, did not give up on herself or the fate of her child. She trusted her intuition and the fear someone or something was out to hurt her unborn child.
Danielle Valentine wove together a story where belief systems in jeopardy, damaging relationships, and ultimately, self-doubt. The pain Anna goes through in one of the rawest moments of her life and she does not even have her own self as a back-up at times. Anna is both her hero and villain by proxy due to the people just listening and not ‘hearing’ what she is trying to say. I felt much remorse for Anna and her struggles with her career, pregnancy, and lack of a support system. I cannot imagine dealing with this unrelenting feeling something was wrong with her child.
Lack of belief is scary enough, but when you add sinister plot twists and slow burns into the story, you have a tsunami of feelings. They begin scraping your body at the waves back, forcing you across jagged debris, unknown directions, and who you may run into along the way.
Lastly, I’d like to note any pregnancy, no matter the turn-out, should be less taboo. Bodies can miscarry, and it is nothing to be ashamed of or kept locked away. If anything, it needs an uprising in the science field to do more research in the field for data and better outcomes.
While I may not be a woman, I am sorry for everyone’s loss. I will never know what it physically feels like, but I’ve seen what it does to friends, and it tore me apart. It can be destructive. You need to do more than just listen; you need to ‘hear’ these voices. If they are speaking to you, they are for a reason. Count this as a blessing and do not brush this person off.
Be kind, listen, hear, empathize, and cope with this individual. It’s not easy and it’s not about you. It’s not your time. Be the light they currently need in their lives.
Thank you Danielle Valentine for this ARC.
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