"The Other Valley," by Scott Alexander Howard

We about-face by turning from historical fiction and non-fiction to speculative fiction that looks forward into the future...at the present...and into the past...all at the same time. This month, we'll be re-acquainting ourselves with the interesting flavor of light science-fiction through a unique time-travel predicament. One of 2024's most eagerly anticipated titles--and debut novels--various reviewers describe this story as "thought-provoking", "heartfelt", "simple yet amazing", "fantastically original", and "quietly lingering long after being read". Will you agree with all or any of these sentiments? Let us know when we get together!

From Goodreads:

A literary speculative novel about an isolated town neighbored by its own past and future

Sixteen-year-old Odile is an awkward, quiet girl vying 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 the other side, it’s the same valley, the same town--except 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 recognizes two visitors she wasn’t supposed to see, she realizes that the parents of her friend Edme have been escorted across the border from the future, 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 see 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, imperiling her entire future.