The Other Valley

(Hardback, Large Print Edition)

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For fans of Kazuo Ishiguro and Emily St. John Mandel, this mind-bending take on time travel (The New York Times) is about an isolated town neighbored by its own past and future, and a young girl who spots two elderly visitors from across the border: the grieving parents of the boy she loves.

Sixteen-year-old Odile vies for a coveted seat on the Conseil. If she earns the position, shell decide who may cross her towns heavily guarded borders. To the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, its twenty years behind. The towns repeat in an endless sequence across the wilderness.

When Odile recognizes two visitors she wasnt supposed to see, she realizes that the parents of her friend Edme have been escorted across the border from the future, on a mourning tour, to view their son while hes still alive in Odiles present.

Edmewho is brilliant, funny, and the only person to truly know Odileis going to die. Sworn to secrecy to preserve the timeline, Odile now becomes the Conseils top candidate. Yet she finds herself drawing closer to the doomed boy, jeopardizing her entire future.

Reviews

A mind-bending take on time travel and a slow-boiling psychological thrillerHoward has a naturalists gift for the pastoral.The New York Times

A well-made speculative page-turnerreading it makes the time fly."The Wall Street Journal

"Stunning...Not only is this novel a quiet meditation on grief and love, but it also finds itself in conversation with larger philosophical debates such as the nature of mortality, fate versus free will, and how far a person will goand what theyre willing to riskto spend more time with those they love. A thought-provoking exploration of ethics, power, love, and time travel that is perfect for fans of Ishiguro and McEwan."Kirkus (starred review)

"Beautifully written...a triumph"Booklist (starred review)

"This gripping speculative novel will make for wonderful book club discussions."Library Journal (starred review)

A moving tale of time travel and teen friendshipsurprising and heartrendingthis will leave readers with plenty to chew on.Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

Scott Alexander Howard lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Toronto and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, where his work focused on the relationship between memory, emotion, and literature. The Other Valley is his first novel. Connect with him at ScottAlexanderHoward.com.