Author(s): Melissa Broder

Adult Fiction | Staff Favourites | Bestsellers

The most profound book yet from the visionary author of Milk Fed and The Pisces, a darkly funny novel about grief that becomes a desert survival story. A woman arrives alone at a Best Western seeking respite from an emptiness that plagues her. She has fled to the California high desert to escape a cloud of sorrow -- for both her father in the ICU and a husband whose illness is worsening. What the motel provides, however, is not peace but a path, thanks to a receptionist who recommends a nearby hike. Out on the sun-scorched trail, the woman encounters a towering cactus whose size and shape mean it should not exist in California. Yet the cactus is there, with a gash through its side that beckons like a familiar door. So she enters it. What awaits her inside this mystical succulent sets her on a journey at once desolate and rich, hilarious and poignant. This is Melissa Broder at her most imaginative, most universal, and finest. This is Death Valley. PRAISE FOR THE PISCES 'Of all the books that I read this summer I think this was my absolute favourite. It really blew me away' DOLLY ALDERTON 'Frank, provocative and brilliant' INDEPENDENT 'Hilarious, poignant, sexy. A brilliant story about why we crave connection and how to find ourselves' ELLE

STAFF REVIEW by Amelia

A poignant yet oddly humorous novel in true Melissa Broder style that navigates themes of grief, existential turmoil, and the absurdity of life. As the protagonist grapples with her father's impending death and her husband's chronic illness, she finds herself lost in the surreal landscape of the Death Valley desert. Broder's prose is both raw and lyrical, offering a haunting exploration of loss and the search for meaning amidst the barren desert expanse. With its blend of dark humour and surreal weirdness, "Death Valley" is a compelling read that lingers in the mind long after the final page.