Scott Alexander Howard

We are thrilled to welcome Scott Alexander Howard to the Book Tree to discuss his internationally bestselling debut, The Other Valley.

We’ll be in conversation with Scott about his stunning novel, which is a cross between Kazuo Ishiguro's speculative work and the heart-rending search for where it all went wrong in Matt Haig's The Midnight Library.

Both emotional and philosophical, The Other Valley has been chosen as an Indie Next pick in the US, and is in development for a major new television series.

Scott will sign books in London, Edinburgh and St Andrews, but this is the only opportunity to see him at an evening event in the UK!

About the Book

An unusual approach to time travel, a philosophical thought experiment and a deeply moving, ultimately thrilling story about memory, love and regret — The Guardian

Astonishingly brilliant. My book of the year — Liz Nugent, Sunday Times-bestselling author of Strange Sally Diamond

To the east is the future. To the west is the past. If you were permitted to cross the valley’s border, which direction would you go?

Sixteen-year-old Odile vies for a coveted seat on the Conseil. If she earns the position, she’ll decide who may cross her town’s heavily guarded borders. On either side, it’s the same valley, the same town. To the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it’s twenty years behind. The towns repeat in an endless sequence across the wilderness. 

When Odile recognises two visitors she wasn’t supposed to see, she realises that the grieving parents of her friend Edme have been escorted across the border, on a mourning tour, to view their son while he’s still alive in Odile’s present. 

Edme — who is brilliant, funny, and the only person to truly know Odile — is about to die. Sworn to secrecy in order to preserve the timeline, Odile now becomes the Conseil’s top candidate. Yet she finds herself drawing closer to the doomed boy, imperilling her entire future.

A slow-boiling philosophical thriller ... Howard has a naturalist's gift for the pastoral — The New York Times

A stellar debut, full of heartbreak and hope wrapped up in gorgeous prose. Scott Alexander Howard is one to watch — Christina Dalcher, author of Vox

Part Ishiguro, part Amis, and somehow all its own, The Other Valley marks the debut of a phenomenally talented writer. Pay attention — Sarah Langan, author of Good Neighbours

About the Author

Scott Alexander Howard has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Toronto, where he wrote an award-winning dissertation on literary emotions and the passage of time. His articles have appeared in journals such as Philosophical Quarterly and Analysis. Upon completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard, he decided to pursue fiction. He now lives in Vancouver.