Death Valley: A Novel

Written by Melissa Broder

Narrated by Melissa Broder

Named a Best Book of 2023 by The New York Times ("incandescent...hilarious...a triumph"), Oprah Daily ("surreal, absurd, lucid, and wise"), Vanity Fair ("Broder [is] a genius and a sorceress"), and more!

From the visionary author of Milk Fed and The Pisces, a darkly funny novel about grief and a “magical tale of survival” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

In Melissa Broder’s astonishingly profound 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 discovered on a nearby hike.

Out along the sun-scorched trail, the narrator 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.

Death Valley is Melissa Broder at her most imaginative, most universal, and finest, and is “a journey unlike any you’ve read before” (Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Friday Black).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Oct 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9781797161679

Melissa Broder

Melissa Broder is the author of the novels Milk Fed, The Pisces, and Death Valley, the essay collection So Sad Today, and five poetry collections, including Superdoom. She has written for The New York Times, Elle, and New York magazine’s The Cut. She lives in Los Angeles. Follow her on Twitter @SoSadToday and @MelissaBroder and Instagram @RealMelissaBroder.

Reviews for Death Valley

[kcristina89 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is not for me. The story is flat and somehow misses a direction, just full of cheesy quotes.

[alexandrya magee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

fever dream + literary fiction + grief + spirituality girls who talk to crystals

[Jennifer Smith · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A definite contender for one of my favorite books read in 2024.

[Morgan · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I loved the author's previous work and expected to love this one, but I sincerely question the wisdom of the publishers who opted not to hire an actual voice actor to narrate the audiobook version.

No shade to writers, but writing a text isn't the same as performing it, and an inexperienced audiobook narrator will often have a specific, grating cadence - immediately recognizable if you've ever heard a 6th grader read aloud. Considering how many well-produced audiobooks with actual voice actors I've listened to in the past few years, I don't consider this nitpicky or unfair; the production quality of this audiobook is not up to par, frankly.

[Judy Green · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great empathy with love, loss, grieving, celebration. Thank you! ?

[Melissa no.more.shelf.control · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Incredible and mystic experience with grief, long-term illness, and survival told with humor and deep insights. Loved it.

[Loclyn · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

IT WAS SHEAR TORTURE LISTENING TO THIS. I WAS BORED.

[Emily Malkowski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An absolutely stunning portrait of anticipatory grief. My favorite Melissa Broder yet!

[Rayana Aldossari · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really like how the main character talked about her feelings so eloquently. I would recommend it to people who have anticipatory grief.

[Leah Barton Tew · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I like contemporary fiction with a mystical flavor, which this novel has. However, it has no point. Or rather, to the extent it does have a point, it’s unnecessary and/or the novel does a poor job of creating the need for the point. To that end, the mystical imagery (and it’s very heavy on mystical imagery) just seems gratuitous and self-indulgent.