Valley High, Mountain Low - Hardcover

by Ann Crawford (Author)

Astute novel. A microcosm of contemporary America. -BookLife Reviews

In a convergence unlike anything else in contemporary fiction, Valley High, Mountain Low brings Silicon Valley, social-media harm, political radicalization, and January 6 together in one family's deeply personal story. It's also a funny, fast-moving adventure about starting over, finding your way home, and discovering what matters most.

A top tech exec bolts from her life-leaving behind her narcissistic tech-bro husband and the illusion of control she built in Silicon Valley.

But when Mariella returns to her childhood home in Colorado to regroup, she finds a world unraveling. Her mom's off storming the Capitol in full QAnon regalia while her nieces are disappearing into social media's quiet damage and self-erasure.

The algorithms Mariella once helped push are no longer abstract. They're personal.

"We thought we were connecting the world... But we forgot to connect families at the dinner table."

As truth blurs into belief and the people she loves slip farther out of reach, Mariella is forced to confront everything she spent her lifetime avoiding: grief, family, belonging, and the cost of staying silent.

Sometimes when everything falls apart, we don't just rebuild. We decide who we become.

Darkly humorous and deeply human, Valley High, Mountain Low is Ann Crawford's boldest novel yet. This intimate, timely story of love and loss explores the surprising ways we can travel back to ourselves.

What rises when we let it all crash?

For readers of thoughtful women's fiction, family drama, and stories that ask hard questions with compassion.