The Other Valley

Howard’s haunting debut follows 16-year-old Odile, who lives in a village governed by the intriguing dictates of time: to the east lies an identical town, 20 years ahead of Odile’s time, and to the west is the same town, 20 years behind. Pressured by her prickly mother, Odile competes for a chance to apprentice with the Conseil, a group that closely monitors border crossings and considers the ramifications of moving from one time to another. When Odile accidentally encounters devastating information about a possible future, her carefully laid plans and hoped-for dreams are upended. Narrator Cindy Kay brilliantly gives voice to Odile, capturing her affectless demeanor, paralyzed by the seemingly arbitrary rules of her community even as she thrills at her own acumen and insight. Kay skillfully allows moments of deep emotion to surface—a parent’s grief at being kept from their lost child, the piercing joy of newfound love—while communicating the suffocating dread inscribed within village life.