Death Valley - BookWyrm

English language

Published June 5, 2023 by Scribner.

ISBN:: 978-1-6680-2484-3

(1 review)

In Melissa Broder’s astounding new novel, 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.

2 editions

V171 reviewed Death Valley by Melissa Broder

Review of 'Death Valley' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Thanks so much to the publisher for providing me an advanced reader copy of this book.

Having not read anything by the author before, I wasn't sure what to expect. But I was really happy to find that Death Valley worked really well for me. We follow our unnamed protagonist, an author, in the throes of grief as her father is in the hospital doing poorly. She deals with days of care taking and medical emergencies that she can't seem to escape because her husband also deals with chronic illness. She decides to take a brief retreat to the desert, staying at a prototypical yet eccentric Best Western (a personal favorite of myself as well), where she's recommended a local hiking trail through the desert. On these hikes she comes face to face with physical manifestations of her grief, phantom cacti, children, and personified rocks. And also she gets lost. …

Thanks so much to the publisher for providing me an advanced reader copy of this book.

Having not read anything by the author before, I wasn't sure what to expect. But I was really happy to find that Death Valley worked really well for me. We follow our unnamed protagonist, an author, in the throes of grief as her father is in the hospital doing poorly. She deals with days of care taking and medical emergencies that she can't seem to escape because her husband also deals with chronic illness. She decides to take a brief retreat to the desert, staying at a prototypical yet eccentric Best Western (a personal favorite of myself as well), where she's recommended a local hiking trail through the desert. On these hikes she comes face to face with physical manifestations of her grief, phantom cacti, children, and personified rocks. And also she gets lost.

This was funny. Like FUNNY funny. The way the author paints her as always on the cusp of a mental breakdown, the LA-esque pseudo mysticisms and therapy talk to deal with grief, the Jewish mother we all know, the subreddits and comments, the weirdly specific desk workers at the Best Western, and even the vulnerable insecurities that come with caring for a dying loved one -- it all came together in a beautiful mural of sadness and comedy. Instead of focusing on the tedious reality of caring for a dying parent, this book perfectly captured the emotions in a surreal way. I particularly loved the dichotomy of the condition of the father and the husband that surfaces several times, though I wish it were explored a bit further. I think there can be a lot to say when comparing age related death to chronic illness.

I do think the first half of this was a bit stronger than the second half. There's more narrative progression in the first half, with the second half being more introspective and surface level philosophical. I do think a dive into the introspective was necessary as way to fully realize the protagonist's fall into manic grief, but I was left wanting a bit more depth to it. Also, the narrator is an author fleshing our her next book about a woman dealing with the death of her father and the illness of her husband -- I thought it was a bit too on-the-nose meta and the plot point didn't really pan out in any meaningful way. It distracted more than it served.

How to recommend this, hmm. If you need a lighthearted exploration of grief, you'll like this. If you like funny, topical books you'll like this. If you like reddit humor, as in literally reading comments from reddit, you'll like this. If you're looking for a rigid narrative, you won't like this. If you want a more serious, or deep exploration of grief, you won't like this. If you think millennial humor is cringe, you won't like this. But I did!