INTO THE VALLEY
Into the Valley
Ruth Galm’s spare, poetic debut novel, set in the American West of early Joan Didion, traces the drifting path of a young woman caught between generations as she skirts the law and her own oppressive anxiety. — Soho Press
​
“Galm’s debut is precisely written and casually paced. A standout debut.”
— Publishers Weekly, starred, boxed review; selected as one of ten “Writers to Watch: Fall 2015 Anticipated Debuts”; PW Pick of the Week 8-3-15
​
“Mesmerizing … Galm’s writing mimics the hyperreality of dreams, and the novel’s penetrative heat is palpable … Underpinning Into the Valley is a subtle and complicated exploration of what it means to be a woman and, more specifically, what it means to be a woman without a man.”
​
“Galm’s writing is rich and evokes the desolation of the Central Valley and B.’s mental state. Readers [will] appreciate Galm’s fantastic writing and the new view of an overexposed slice of American History.”
​
“ … [E]vokes the desolate interior landscape of writers such as Joan Didion.”
​
“Riveting debut novel … Terse, vivid, and heavily atmospheric … ”
— “6 Books You Need to Read This August,” Los Angeles Magazine
​
“This is a natural for anyone who loves Joan Didion’s work–especially her nonfiction critiques on California and that other classic of aimless driving, Play It as It Lays.”
— Booklist, starred review
​
“Galm, in a similar fashion to Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook, has powerfully captured a woman’s righteous resistance in the face of a rapaciously gendered society.”
— KQED Arts on Into the Valley
​
“Readers will find it difficult to set aside Into the Valley, even after they are done with it. Truly mesmerizing … Contemporary literary fiction at its best.”
​
— Selected for 2015 35over35 list
​
— Top Five 2015 Staff Pick. Kepler’s Bookstore
​
Available from Soho Press
​
For media inquiries, please contact Abby Koski at Soho Press, akoski@sohopress.com.
