Desert Hearts

On its surface, the premise for Melissa Broder’s Death Valley is straightforward. A woman ventures into the High Desert to work on her novel, while also escaping her father’s impending death and her husband’s chronic illness. But Death Valley is about as uncomplicated as the desert terrain is barren. It’s a complex ecosystem, and for Broder, who adds magical-realist elements such as talking rocks and flowers and a giant cactus where her unnamed narrator discovers child versions of both her father and her husband, it becomes a vehicle for grappling with existential questions.