The Other Valley

Bookseller recommendation

“I listened to this book over a few days. At first it felt like entertaining background noise for my second job. Then I stopped paying attention to what my hands were doing (my boss did not like that). Then I found myself putting in earbuds and walking it around town, and climbing into bed with it playing. I can't get Odile out of my head. Her story left me with this strangely energetic vertigo - and so many thoughts and feelings about my own relationships with grief, control, change, and growing up. I wish I could read it again for the first time! ”

— Kat • Country Bookshelf

Bookseller recommendation

“The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard is hard to describe without giving too much away. It's set in a world where there are valleys set twenty years apart in time, and every once in a while, visitors are allowed to visit the past or the future valleys for very specific reasons. The narrator, Odile, accidentally discovers the identity of two visitors, and it changes her life. All I can comfortably say about the plot is that while the book is obviously about that, it twists in a way I didn't at all see coming. It's a beautiful look at grief and second chances and what we might do differently if we knew the outcomes and what thinking we know the outcome traps us into. It's wonderful and thought-provoking.”

— Anna • Katy Budget Books

Bookseller recommendation

“No Spoilers here: The Other Valley left me in a book hangover for days! A heart wrenching coming of age debut that centers around grief. But is so much more: first love, fate, secrets, family expectations, regret. Imagine that your town is the present time. To the east, your town, but 20 years in the future. To the west, your town, but 20 years in the past. Intriguing, right?! Howard's storytelling and world building reminds me of Celeste Ng and Justin Cronin. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next! ”

— Jenny • E. Shaver, bookseller

Bookseller recommendation

“No Spoilers here: The Other Valley left me in a book hangover for days! A heart wrenching coming of age debut that centers around grief. But is so much more: first love, fate, secrets, family expectations, regret. Imagine that your town is the present time. To the east, your town, but 20 years in the future. To the west, your town, but 20 years in the past. Intriguing, right?! Howard's storytelling and world building reminds me of Celeste Ng and Justin Cronin. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next! ”

— Jenny • E. Shaver, bookseller