THE OTHER VALLEY by Scott Alexander Howard

5 stars

This highly evocative dystopian novel stays with you long after finished and makes you meditate deeply about how our lives unfurl, woven with both love and grief, and how strong a role fate ultimately plays. The setting: a world in which identical mountain towns line up in infinity to both east and west, with high border fences and armored guards preventing any unapproved crossings. Each iteration of the town is 20 years apart: going back in time to the west and forward in time to the east. Based on how long people live, they will have other versions of themselves in the past and future. There are cars, buses, lights and stoves, but no high-tech electronic technology – so people have to rely on paper, notebooks and letter writing.

A high council, spelled Conseil, decides who, if anyone, can cross either border (usually based on grief over sudden death or being terminally ill), and gendarmes ferry coded letters to the neighboring Conseil as both sides must agree on a visitation. Law enforcement, Gendarmes, accompany any visitors who must watch from a distance and wear wooden masks that completely cover their facial features as well as loose fitting robes – to avoid being recognized and impacting in any way the future or past.

Odile, a quiet, reclusive sixteen-year-old, one day at school sees a pair of visitors watching her school – and as one drops their mask she recognizes them as the parents of a school classmate, Edme. She realizes they must be coming from the future, on a so-called mourning tour, to see him because he has unexpectedly died. Odile becomes fascinated by Edme, who’s smart, funny, accepting of Odile, and a budding violinist – though his parents want only for him to follow their career path of working in processing fruit from the orchards.

At age sixteen, all children in the towns must apply to apprentice for an occupation, and Odile’s mother is insistent that she try to join the Conseil. In writing her application, Odile reveals the siting of Edme’s parents. The Conseil summons her to swear her to silence and to invite her to try out for one of their coveted spots.

What enfolds is a coming of age love story between Odile and Edme, beset by tragedy but lifted by the possibility of fundamentally changing their fates through bravery.

This book debut is from a Canadian with a PhD in philosophy and post-doctoral work at Harvard, and his intellectual philosophical musings play as background music throughout.

I just loved this book!
Thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.