The Other Valley
A Novel
By Scott Alexander Howard
Read by Cindy Kay
Table of Contents
About The Book
*Soon to be a TV series*
Jimmy Fallon’s Book Club Top Four Pick and a PBS Book Club Pick
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, she’ll decide who may cross her town’s heavily guarded borders. To the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it’s twenty years behind. The towns repeat in an endless sequence across the wilderness.
When Odile recognizes two visitors she wasn’t 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 he’s still alive in Odile’s present.
Edme—who is brilliant, funny, and the only person to truly know Odile—is going to die. Sworn to secrecy to preserve the timeline, Odile now becomes the Conseil’s top candidate. Yet she finds herself drawing closer to the doomed boy, jeopardizing her entire future.
The Other Valley is “thought-provoking exploration of ethics, power, love, and time travel” (Kirkus Reviews).
Jimmy Fallon’s Book Club Top Four Pick and a PBS Book Club Pick
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, she’ll decide who may cross her town’s heavily guarded borders. To the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it’s twenty years behind. The towns repeat in an endless sequence across the wilderness.
When Odile recognizes two visitors she wasn’t 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 he’s still alive in Odile’s present.
Edme—who is brilliant, funny, and the only person to truly know Odile—is going to die. Sworn to secrecy to preserve the timeline, Odile now becomes the Conseil’s top candidate. Yet she finds herself drawing closer to the doomed boy, jeopardizing her entire future.
The Other Valley is “thought-provoking exploration of ethics, power, love, and time travel” (Kirkus Reviews).
About The Reader
Cindy Kay
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (February 27, 2024)
- Runtime: 10 hours and 42 minutes
- ISBN13: 9781797169323
Raves and Reviews
"Kay's voice is unhurried and comforting as Odile confronts her many conflicts, internal and external. This novel is unique, suspenseful, literary, and complex."
– AudioFile Magazine
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): The Other Valley Unabridged Audio Download 9781797169323
- Author Photo (jpg): Scott Alexander Howard Photograph by Veronica Bonderud(0.1 MB)
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