Valley of the Moon

Valley of the Moon
Melanie Gideon

An utterly original, thoughtful and deeply compelling novel for readers who loved ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’.In the heart of the Sonoma Valley, on the edge of a sun-drenched meadow, lies the idyllic community of Greengage – where the residents wear simple clothes, lead quiet lives and whose manners could almost seem to be of another time.Into this world stumbles single mother Lux Lysander, trying to lose herself in the peaceful beauty of the Californian countryside while her young son visits his grandparents. It’s a world far away from the unpaid bills piling up and the overwhelming sense of struggle to make ends meet.Soon, Lux finds herself drawn into the lives of the people of Greengage, discovering not only the secret at the heart of their community but also a sense of belonging she didn’t know she was looking for. Torn between this life and her own with her son back in San Francisco, can Lux turn her back on the only place that has ever truly felt like home?‘Lovingly handcrafted, delectable and transcendent’—San Francisco Chronicle‘Beautifully written . . . a wonderful story about belonging, love and the aching certainty that there’s something more out there. . . . Sure to appeal to fans of Time and Again or The Time Traveler’s Wife’ Shelf Awareness (starred review)‘Captivating’ Booklist

Copyright (#ulink_3542ae52-a4b0-57ea-8da1-1804722133b0)

HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in the USA by Ballantine Books, New York 2016

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2017

Copyright © Melanie Gideon 2017

Cover design by Holly Macdonald © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017

Cover photographs © imageBROKER/Alamy Stock Photo (trees) and Shutterstock.com (http://www.Shutterstock.com) (boy and sky)

Melanie Gideon asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007425532

Ebook Edition © July 2017 ISBN: 9780007425525

Version: 2017-03-23

Dedication (#ulink_fb257a80-0d8f-5e9f-a2b5-8503c58b4235)

For Sarah and Vasant Gideon

Epigraph (#ulink_1fac50b4-0c96-5590-a254-7cc094312880)

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.

—SØREN KIERKEGAARD

Contents

Cover (#u33997fc5-2ba4-5dc1-abbb-14cf24773f04)

Title Page (#u23ebed12-c492-54a4-acd4-a317bbb6b71b)

Copyright (#u1a699e9d-b866-54a5-820c-7a6b41be8343)

Dedication (#u6b3cad8c-6914-5a3e-815e-89d4f214e826)

Epigraph (#ua8956038-d763-5954-bf8f-92d4b60604fc)

Joseph: Valley of the Moon, California. 1906 (#u57224207-688e-5de5-b220-2ca43d1e30ed)

Lux: San Francisco, California. 1975 (#u18a37819-a886-5b07-be85-70e0563c5ced)

Joseph: Valley of the Moon. 1906 (#u256a8f7d-09ce-51fd-ac09-dc385f18245d)

Lux (#u2018d24f-1241-570f-b2cb-ecfcfa3f6ce8)

Joseph (#u1952e135-a46e-5058-8929-346639667dc3)

Lux (#u77170d24-1daf-5201-8c95-73c8f9d9b8e3)

Joseph (#litres_trial_promo)

Lux (#litres_trial_promo)

Lux: San Francisco. 1975 (#litres_trial_promo)

Joseph: Valley of the Moon. 1906 (#litres_trial_promo)

Lux (#litres_trial_promo)

Joseph (#litres_trial_promo)

Lux: San Francisco. 1975–76 (#litres_trial_promo)

Lux: Valley of the Moon. 1906 (#litres_trial_promo)

Joseph (#litres_trial_promo)

Lux (#litres_trial_promo)

Joseph (#litres_trial_promo)

Lux: San Francisco. 1978–79 (#litres_trial_promo)

Joseph: Valley of the Moon. 1907 (#litres_trial_promo)

Lux (#litres_trial_promo)

Joseph (#litres_trial_promo)

Lux (#litres_trial_promo)