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The Valley of the Moon

Jack London

3.99 · Rating details · 1,314 ratings · 115 reviews

A road novel 50 years before Kerouac, The Valley of the Moon traces the odyssey of Billy and Saxon Roberts from the labor strife of Oakland at the turn of the century through central and northern California in search of beautiful land they can farm independently.

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Paperback, 404 pages

Published November 3rd 2006 by Hard Press (first published 1913)

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Oct 03, 2017 J.K. Grice rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: could-not-finish

Jack London is one of my favorite authors, and this is his only book that I just did not like at all. It's sort of set up as a novelized agrarian treatise, but it's also rather contrived, trite, and dull. Big disappointment.

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Aug 09, 2007 Amber rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: topshelf

If you were to read any book by Jack London, this is the one. Especially if you are twenty something and live in the San Francisco East Bay Area. The book may have been written almost one hundred years ago, but all the issues are still very real and very applicable. It is a moving story and very refreshing.

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Jun 16, 2014 Corinne Wilson rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: set-in-past, adult-literature, working-class-awesome

Here now is my Sock Puppet Theater script for this book:

Saxon: Hello.
Billy: Hello. I enjoy talking about my ancestors, and how white they were, and what good stock they were, and how much they suffered.
Saxon: I enjoy talking about how they came here before these other dirty immigrants, and are therefore way more awesome. Also how my form and figure reflect the old stock.
Billy: We should get married, and talk about this all the time.
Saxon: Yay!
Saxon's Sister: BITCH YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE ...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Chris rated it liked it

Jack London never fired blanks. There isn’t a book of his that I’ve read where he isn’t trying to mortally wound a lazy convention, a notion taken for granted, or what often passes for common sense. London’s exhortation is always, in my words, “Think! Act! Live to the fullest!” He believes in the power of the will and body, and despises those who fear their own breath fogging the mirror. One of my favorite lines from his works, “I'd rather sing one wild song and burst my heart with it, than live Jack London never fired blanks. There isn’t a book of his that I’ve read where he isn’t trying to mortally wound a lazy convention, a notion taken for granted, or what often passes for common sense. London’s exhortation is always, in my words, “Think! Act! Live to the fullest!” He believes in the power of the will and body, and despises those who fear their own breath fogging the mirror. One of my favorite lines from his works, “I'd rather sing one wild song and burst my heart with it, than live a thousand years watching my digestion and being afraid of the wet.” Pretty much sums him up.

That being said, Valley Of the Moon definitely was London-esque, but it wasn’t my favorite for a few reasons. There weren’t as many good one-liners. He took too long telling the story. The plot became too swollen with needless details about how his characters were outsmarting everybody else. Of course, to be fair, it was written as a kind of manual for people in his time to know how to escape their situation. But I’m not them. They can write their own reviews and give him 5 stars if they want to. Oh wait, they’re dead.

So, the protagonists in this story were Californian urbanites, mired in hand-to-mouth living, and finally having their financial Achilles-heel snipped by a union strike that embroils them in riots, incarceration, and an widening distance from each other in their marriage. The beginning of the book is heavily steeped in mawkish romance between the characters: “I love you more! No, I love you more!” It starts feeling like the story is about to end 100 pages in. Everything is so perfect. Sickeningly so. Come on, London! Send a plague or something! If I’m going to read 400 more pages of this, I need a plague or some severed limbs…something!

So, half-way through the book it gets really interesting. Everything’s calculated to dump old-timey religion, antiquated values, and dumb sense halfway through the book. It’s a Jack London signature move: skinning the weak and boring, and re-fleshing them with something more, well, readable. The heroine, Saxon, finally hits rock-bottom (thank you Jack), starts wading out into the San Francisco bay to collect mussels to eat so she doesn’t starve. Her man is incarcerated for nearly crushing a man’s skull. Their neighbors are afraid, and people are getting stalked and killed over the scarcity of employment. Then suddenly, struck with a new vision of freedom, Saxon and Billy let go of their choked, wheezing pittance of the city-life, and go on the road with just their backpacks and a little bit of cash. Bravo!

To be sure, initially there appears to be some white-supremacy overtones in the story, but this actually turns into high praise for Hispanics and Asians who are smart, hard workers and have progressed further than whites because of their ingenuity and courage…two qualities London extols above all others. So, was he really a supremacist, or merely calling for whites to catch up to their hardworking brothers-from-other-mothers? I’ll bet that London was probably most in love with his own self and his hard body, and tended to dwell on people and ancestry that resembled his narcissistic self. Even Saxon’s name referred to past Anglo honor and grit up to the early days of pioneering. But I have to hand it to this heroine; she was a boss! A master of herself and others. She drew on her inner reserves, and “she rebelled…fluttered and beat her soul against the hard face of things as did the linnet against the bars of wire…She did not belong in the trap. She would fight her way out of the trap… It was the stupid that remained and bowed their heads to fate.” She was independent and emanated love and concern for others, but she had a commanding aspect to her that enabled her to take the reins from her husband when he became abusive and began to neglect himself and his family. She singlehandedly created a life-strategy during a period of want, led her family out of Oakland with the marvelous slogan, “Oakland’s just a place to start from”, slept on the ground, went without food, humbled herself to demeaning roles to survive financially, and ultimately guided others around her to live out their strengths and make a better life together with her. Such a powerful example of a proud and noble woman.

Of course, the characters are WAY too lucky, and it doesn’t help matters that even the title of the book signifies a utopian ideal that is impossible to realize. But I’ll be darned if our heroes don’t actually find a spot in California that fits their dream and is actually called The Valley Of the Moon (Sonoma Valley)! Seriously? Whatever happened to the line from the book, “I don’t want to dream…I want things real!” I’ll tell you what happened. London went out playing with the butterflies again instead of writing us a book that helps the rest of us who haven’t yet found the greener grass, and may never. Geez, thanks Mr. “just-giving-you-the-hardcore-truth-so-you-can-learn-to-live-better-and-smarter-and-not-in-a-fairy-tale-land-that-will-ultimately-leave-you-bleeding-in-a-hole-somewhere”!! Yeah, thanks Jack…for a friggin’ lot of JACK SQUAT!!

But I still love him. Overall a good story, good points; just took too long.
...more

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Apr 10, 2008 Heather rated it really liked it

I bought the book on a camping trip to see Jack London's home in Sonoma county. I'm just reading it now, and am about halfway through. I'm impressed with how well London writes from a female perspective, though there is a certain lack of depth. That said, it is fascinating to read a book set in Oakland in the early 1900s, reading about familiar places and streets is great for the imagination. Jack London's opinion of the world comes through clearly in each character, and you can recognize his ...more

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Nov 30, 2010 Kristie (fabk) rated it really liked it

Shelves: all-time-favourites, 2013, kindle, sbc-13

I read this book in highschool and absolutely fell in love with it. Definetly a good read!
Re-read in 2013. Loved it as much this time around as the first time around! The characters and their journey really spoke to me!

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Jul 06, 2016 Rebecca Rosenberg rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

My favorite of Jack London's novels-- an autobiographical depiction of Jack and his wife Charmian leaving working on the Oakland docks to live in idyllic Sonoma Valley.

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Mar 23, 2015 Lorraine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

So many people associate Jack London with Call of the Wild, The Sea Wolf, White Fang, and of course the short story “To Build a Fire.” Most do not realize that he wrote some 50 books and hundreds of short stories and essays. The Valley of the Moon was written in 1913, three years before he died at the age of 40.

The first part of the book takes place in Oakland during troubled economic times and labor strikes playing havoc on many people’s lives. Billy and Saxon are the main characters who are So many people associate Jack London with Call of the Wild, The Sea Wolf, White Fang, and of course the short story “To Build a Fire.” Most do not realize that he wrote some 50 books and hundreds of short stories and essays. The Valley of the Moon was written in 1913, three years before he died at the age of 40.

The first part of the book takes place in Oakland during troubled economic times and labor strikes playing havoc on many people’s lives. Billy and Saxon are the main characters who are newly married and who struggle to keep afloat in rough times. Billy is a teamster and is also a popular amateur boxer when Saxon meets him, but he explains he has given it up because of the low life crowds who come to see the fights—they want a blood bath and not a sport. Saxon works in a laundry and is ready to quit her job as soon as they marry, and she does. Billy ends up in prison and Saxon does everything she can to stay alive. Halfway through the book, just before Billy is released from prison, she comes to realize that they do not have to stay in Oakland, but they can start an adventure and leave. “Oakland’s just a place to start from.” After going through strikes and fights, and starvation, and losing a baby, Saxon decides that they CAN leave and they will go an adventure and find the perfect place to live; she called it her valley of the moon.

The second part of the book is the story of their adventure, their pilgrimage. Even though they nothing about farming, they decide they will find the perfect place to farm. They meet many people along the way and learn things like how to plow, how to finance horse trading, how to draw customers to the market, and many other simple things like cooking a steak and washing woolens. All things they never would have known about living in the city. When they finally find the perfect place to settle—their valley in “a golden land of small hills and valleys,” you know that things are going to work out for them. And it does!

The book is more complicated than this review. It deals with racial consciousness, socialism, feminism, immigration and westward expansion—each a topic worth exploring separately. Native Californians can really appreciate this book, as can those who are interested in the history of California at this time. I liked the second part of the book much better than the first part. There was so much description and so many fights and so many setbacks, that I just got tired of it all. Knowing Sonoma Valley (it’s breathtaking) and knowing where Jack London did settle in the last years of his life and did farm, made the book all that much more meaningful. What’s even more delightful is that Jack London Historic Park in Sonoma Valley is a beautiful place to visit and enjoy.
...more

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Dec 03, 2015 Perry Whitford rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Working class, proto-Beat Generation epic, fifty years before Kerouac and company, set in Oakland during the first years of the 20th century.

Saxon Brown, who works in a laundry sweatbox, and Billy Roberts, a teamster and occasional prizefighter, have a whirlwind romance then struggle to get by against a backdrop of the tensions between capital and labor, which result in strikes and hardships.

But through all the hard times, plucky Saxon, who is proud of the image her name conjures up and of the Working class, proto-Beat Generation epic, fifty years before Kerouac and company, set in Oakland during the first years of the 20th century.

Saxon Brown, who works in a laundry sweatbox, and Billy Roberts, a teamster and occasional prizefighter, have a whirlwind romance then struggle to get by against a backdrop of the tensions between capital and labor, which result in strikes and hardships.

But through all the hard times, plucky Saxon, who is proud of the image her name conjures up and of the memory of her mother, who came West across the Plains as a girl, 'buckled on the armor again for the hardest fight in the world's arena - the woman's fight.'

Billy is the thick of the scabs and picketers, but this is Saxon's story; her pride in her 'man-boy', her private grief at the loss of a child, her bewilderment at the wrongness of the world and despairing rejection of the God her mother told her about.

She meets some interesting and well drawn characters along the way, such as her crafty and possibly crazy neighbour in Oakland, Mercedes Higgins; an organised and helpful female farmer in San José, Mrs. Mortimor; and a colony of bohemian artists in Carmel, based on London's own crowd.

They all teach Saxon and Billy some valuable lessons about life. And farming. For the second half of the novel, where their metaphorical quest to find the Valley of the Moon begins in earnest, is both a lament and call to arms aimed at American farmers, who London berates for ruining the land and losing it to immigrants, who make better use of it.

As a result, the story of Saxon and Billy loses some momentum amongst all the didacticism, and grows a little too slushy as their fortunes improve, but this doesn't ruin the book. The characters are just too likeable for that, I really felt like I knew them by then,and wanted to keep knowing them until the end.

A large book, but a little known one amongst London's classics, it's also very different to the likes of The Sea Wolf or Call of the Wild.

I am still yet to read a Jack London book that I didn't like. ...more

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Feb 25, 2010 Susie is currently reading it

After spending a long weekend in 'the valley of the moon', I felt compelled to read this book. I'm only a few pages in, but I like it already.

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Sep 26, 2019 Nadia Zeemeeuw rated it liked it · review of another edition

The first fall of my teens idols. I adored this book so much when I was a teenager that I still can remember the whole passages of its translated version I have been rereading again and again. Finally I decided to reread a book in English. The first two parts gave exactly the same feelings I had before. I liked the Oakland strike section even more. The idea of adult who actually starts growing up is appealing to me a lot these days. I do love how London managed it. But I must admit that his ...more

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Nov 11, 2013 Kelly rated it it was ok

Shelves: too-boring-to-finish

I can't believe I tortured myself through 500 and some odd pages! Boring and sappy. How I hate wasting this much investment in a story thinking surely it'll get better but it just gets worse. I stuck with it because the time period's union strife might've been educational but it wasn't other than some realism regarding the brutality, and I thought it'd be fun to read about the SF Bay area back then, but even that lacked in depth. Nothing but a cheesy, too drawn out story about two naive married ...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Carole rated it really liked it

I had never heard of this book by Jack London until we chose it to read in my book club. I'm glad that we did. The language is often filled with slang of the era in which it takes place, and that was a little hard to get used to at first. I have a problem sometimes with slangy writing. However, the story of Saxon and Billy is, among other things, a love story that starts off with a bang, and then endures through difficulties and hard times. Saxon and Billy end up pursuing a pretty wonderful ...more

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Aug 05, 2018 Pegggggy rated it it was amazing

Wow how had I waited so long to read this? What a wonderful story. Their life in Carmel and descriptions of Monterey and really all of Northern California were amazing. Read this.

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Aug 11, 2008 Peter rated it it was ok

Very boring. Basically the story is a couple's life in Oakland sucks, so they move to Sonoma.

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Apr 08, 2018 Bruce rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Ooh, Mr. Jack London. This book, "the Valley of The Moon. You have done it. Rarely, one might find a monumental book, but this book is majestic. It should be in every American Literature class in every school.
Billy, " one of those rare individuals that radiate muscular grace through the ungraceful non garments of civilization, " and Saxon, pragmatic , wise, demure, and beautiful. Of pioneer stock, both their families having driven across the country with ox team, both working in Oakland, she Ooh, Mr. Jack London. This book, "the Valley of The Moon. You have done it. Rarely, one might find a monumental book, but this book is majestic. It should be in every American Literature class in every school.
Billy, " one of those rare individuals that radiate muscular grace through the ungraceful non garments of civilization, " and Saxon, pragmatic , wise, demure, and beautiful. Of pioneer stock, both their families having driven across the country with ox team, both working in Oakland, she on the steam irons and he as a teamster. They meet, and marry.
Written at the turn of the century, published in 1913, Jack London's descriptions of the living conditions, hardship, scraping for a dollar are so precise. The jargon and colloquialisms of the day are of interest, and one can see the persistence of many into following generations.
Ultimately, they become disenchanted c urban poverty,, and union life. Strikes, scabs, fighting, ( Billy was a part) , sentences to death for murder. " But she wondered why it was when men wanted to work, and there was work to do, yet they were unable to work because their unions said no. Why were there unions? And, if unions had to be, why were not all workingmen in them?"
" You are brave young things, ...I only wish I were going with you, my pack upon my back....If ever I can do anything for you, just let me know. You're bound to succeed, and I want a hand in it myself."
They make their decision, and seek a better life. They start afoot, through San Leandro, the Pajaro valley ( Pajaro apples), on to Carmel, meeting the residing bohemian artists , the Carmel Mission, to Bierce's Cove, and the King of the Sacerdotal Lizards, the" tribe of the Abalone Eaters." " Abalone is the food of the gods."
The Hymn To the Abalone... " oh, some like ham and some like lamb,
And some like macaroni,
But bring me in a pail of gin
And a tub of abalone."...
But they seek the " Valley of The Moon", a term adopted in jest while visiting new friends and looking through a telescope. They go via train to San Francisco, Black Diamond and the wharf, and they embark on the " Roamer", heading through the New York Cutoff Slough, The Montezuma Hills, the Sacramento River Country, where they stay 2 weeks, Billy driving team. but, " there are no redwoods here, Saxon said. We must go west toward the coast."
Onward, to the north, into Oregon, via wagon, to the Coquille River, where they revert, and head south again. the wild Rogue River, " South they held along the coast, hunting, fishing, swimming, and horse-buying." Turning to the east at old Fort Ross, and entered the Russian River Valley.
And onward, to Sonoma, where Saxon"s father had helped raise the Bear Flag Rebellion, and Sonoma Valley, where, after 3 years, Saxon says" it has everything we wanted."
" But you don't understand, my dear, This IS the Valley of The Moon. This is Sonoma Valley. Sonoma is an Indian word, and means the Valley of the Moon. That was what the Indians called it for untold ages before the first white men came, We, who love it, still so call it. "
The majesty of this book is the zeitgeist of the times, the exquisite descriptiveness of California, of the redwoods, the mountains, the sunshine, the fog. But what is most majestic is the relationship of Billy and Saxon, together, working together, seeking together.
" Say, Saxon, Billy said, after a pause had fallen, " sing Harvest Days," won't you? And when she had complied: " The first time you sung that song for me was comin' home from the picnic on the train- " The very first day we met each other...." " An' what'd you think of me?"
"Oh, ...I wondered if you were the man. Those were the very words that flashed into my mind---
' Is he the man' ? "

...more

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Jan 27, 2017 Cwl rated it liked it

The first half of this book is compelling. It depicts the brutal struggle for survival in an urban setting back in the good old factory-fire days. And it's timely because it devotes tons of space to characters hanging onto their tenuous heritage because that is all that they have. The guy who owns the shirt factory probably doesn't talk for hours about his Saxon mom who crossed the plains, but our protagonists sure do. They have little else in life of which they can be proud. Dialogue like

"We're ...more

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Sep 11, 2019 David N rated it it was amazing

Fascinating how people and books come into our lives at the right time. I met a Bay Area transplant at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival who gave me this book. It introduced me to Jack London. Part love story and part road trip, the book starts in working class Oakland. We follow Saxon from picking up boys through her marriage and journey through northern California and southern Oregon. Saxon and Billy are working class and Oakland is only a place to start from. They go to the movies and decide to ...more

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Jun 30, 2019 Kerry rated it it was amazing

News flash: Jack London is a great writer. He's a great storyteller, a great drawer of characters, a artist with natural descriptions, and able to bring any adventure to life by drawing on his own wildly varied experience, in addition to his talent. I believe I would have loved this book under any circumstances, but being a resident of northern California and familiar with all the settings he described, I enjoyed it even more. It also contains some surprisingly prescient commentary on the ...more

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Feb 13, 2020 Janet Lynch rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction

I'm a Jack London fan, but the xenophobia, the racism, and especially the male chauvinism in this novel is hard to stomach. I'm a stubborn reader, however, and saw it to its end. I wonder if the main character, Billy, has attitudes much like London himself. Billy treats his wife like a gold brick, and both he and she think her sole purpose in life is to stand by him, be beautiful for him, put up with all his horrible actions, and admire him in spite of it all.

I picked this novel up for research ...more

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May 22, 2019 Chelsea Hite rated it did not like it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 19, 2019 Purevdorj Damba rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It is the most beautiful book that i have ever read.This story is about a new couple, their purpose, adventure, true love and being dreamer.After i read that book i just thought that OMG....if you want something from your heart, even you didn’t see or heard about it,it will truly happen one day but you have to be patient and persistent.
I would highly recommend this book for everyone.

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Jan 02, 2017 Gina rated it really liked it

Although it seems like a good story book, it really promotes an out-of-the-box thinking and through the naration teaches life lessons on how to turn over your "luck" and life when you don't like its current state.

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May 18, 2017 Mark rated it liked it

Not Grapes of Wrath but entertaining and worth reading. A longer version of this review appears at www.cloquetriverpress.com.
Peace.
Mark

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Apr 22, 2018 Chanie rated it really liked it

I love much of Jack London simply because of who he is and the energy he infused into his characters. He’s definitely a man who I would invite to dinner if I could.

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Nov 28, 2018 Ksenia rated it it was amazing

fairy tale

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Sep 05, 2017 Sylvia rated it it was amazing

Learned a lot about Jack London and loved his writing

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May 12, 2019 Batjargal rated it it was amazing

read this novel many times. Learns how to fall in love in right way. Learns how to keep the loved one

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Jan 15, 2019 Erilda rated it liked it

"The Valley of the Moon" is a novel written by the American writer Jack London .
The novel is a story of Billy and Saxon Roberts who left city life behind and searched for suitable farmland to own in Central and Northern California .
The book begins with Billy as a Teamster and Saxon working in a laundry . Their early married life is disrupted by a major wave of strikes , due to the political problems ocurring in Oakland those years .Later , following the loss of their baby they feel the need of ...more

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Feb 23, 2017 Treas rated it it was amazing

One of my favorite books. I love Jack London's writing style. And in this book I was really brought into the characters, their struggles, their love and their and adventures. Being familiar with the East Bay and the Monterey area made their adventures while "on the tramp" a heartfelt read.

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About Jack London

Jack London

4,858 followers

Jack London was an American novelist, journalist, social-activist and short-story writer whose works deal romantically with elemental struggles for survival. At his peak, he was the highest paid and the most popular of all living writers. Because of early financial difficulties, he was largely self educated past grammar school.

London drew heavily on his life experiences in his writing. He spent ...more