After Melissa Broder’s 2021 book Milkfed, which I absolutely loved, I was hungry for her next novel. And her latest release, Death Valley, delivered. Broder’s writing style shines in Death Valley, cementing herself as one of my top ten favorite authors. Broder is one of my auto-buy authors, meaning whatever she releases, I will probably buy a copy, no questions asked. And Death Valley is no exception. Even though I read an eBook version, I will be purchasing a physical copy to display on my bookshelf and lend out to friends.
Summary
As her father recovers from a heart attack, the main character travels to a Best Western hotel in the California desert to relax and work on her next novel. While hiking, she stumbles upon a large cactus and climbs inside, setting off on a journey of survival as she crawls through the unforgiving desert.
My thoughts
Even though I read her work before, I was still shocked at how good her writing style is. Broder writes with such command over every plot point, every sentence, down to the word choice or location of a comma.
This novel is a surrealist metaphor for grief. It delves into a variety of topics surrounding the grieving process, like the main character’s relationship with her dying father. In addition, the concept of how sickness impacts a romantic relationship is explored with the main character and her husband, who suffers from a disease that makes him easily fatigued. These heavy, weighty topics are faced with humor, wit, and clever representations. Despite the immense sadness and often overwhelming hopelessness of the main character’s survival, this is a funny book. Some of the humor stems from the nonsensical elements of the work. But other elements are just Broder’s wit and ability to find the lightness in the darkest moments. From clever wordplay to incredibly biting metaphors, Broder embraces the absurd and the humor during our toughest times.
Talking rocks. Meeting your father as a child. Crawling into a cactus. This book is a Californian Alice in Wonderland, and it works so well. Not many people will enjoy the absurdity or the scattered plot, but it’s not for them. This book is for those crawling through the desert that is grief, searching for the right words to describe the complex emotions they are feeling.
Navigating grief and sickness in relationships can feel like an insurmountable obstacle. Grief is a difficult process, and even more difficult to describe. Death Valley shines because of its whimsical and outrageous elements to describe grief and healing in a way that reality cannot. Death Valley is surreal and nonsensical at times, but so is the healing process.
Another point I wanted to raise (maybe unrelated to my review) is that I would recommend this as a great book for book clubs. I feel like fiction books, especially contemporary fiction books, are challenging to use in a book club to discuss with others because there is little nuance to discuss. But Death Valley would be an amazing book to read with a friend. All the imagery and metaphors provide ample space for discussion. I would love to reread it with someone and discuss all the extended metaphors and ideas Broder introduces.
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