In the Heart of the Valley of Love - (California Fiction) by Cynthia Kadohata (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"An apocalyptic picture of America on the brink of civil disorder and social collapse. . . . The writing is lucid and finely honed, often lyrical and occasionally magical."--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

Cynthia Kadohata explores human relationships in a Los Angeles of the future, where rich and poor are deeply polarized and where water, food, and gas, not to mention education, cannot be taken for granted. There is an intimate, understated, even gentle quality to Kadohata's writing--this is not an apocalyptic dystopia--that makes it difficult to shrug off the version of the future embodied in her book.

Review Quotes

""Kadohata's finely wrought prose creates haunting pictures."-- "Washington Post"

"A beautifully crafted novel that warns and hurts and delights."-- "Kirkus Reviews"

"A chilling vision of the 21st century, conceived with prescient imagination and rendered in lean, evocative prose that blossoms into stunning images., . . . As timely as this week's news, yet with the enduring value of literature, this novel speaks simply but eloquently of the human spirit's capacity to survive.-- "Publishers Weekly"

"Kadohata is masterful in her evocation of physical, spiritual, and cultural displacement. . . . The message of this marvelous though often painful book is that our capacity to feel deep emotion--our own and others's--just might bind us together, and save us from ourselves."-- "Los Angeles Times"

"Kadohata manages with lean, uncomplicated prose to tell a remarkable story of love and redemption, with characters who are credible and sympathetic."-- "Chicago Tribune"

"Recommended as an effective depiction of what the future might hold."-- "Library Journal"

"This remarkable novel, set in 2052, imagines a Los Angeles in which class and economic inequities are heightened and resources have grown scarce. It's not dystopia that interests Kadohata, however, but survival: the various ways we get along."-- "Alta: Journal of Alta California"

"An apocalyptic picture of America on the brink of civil disorder and social collapse. . . . The writing is lucid and finely honed, often lyrical and occasionally magical." --Michiko Kakutani, "New York Times"

About the Author

Cynthia Kadohata is the author of the Newbery Medal-winning book Kira-Kira, the National Book Award winner The Thing About Luck, the Jane Addams Peace Award and PEN America Award winner Weedflower, and several critically acclaimed adult novels, including The Floating World.