
The Valley of the Moon
by Jack London
'The Valley of the Moon' Summary
The novel The Valley of the Moon is a story of a working-class couple, Billy and Saxon Roberts, struggling laborers in Oakland at the Turn-of-the-Century, who leave city life behind and search Central and Northern California for suitable farmland to own. The book is notable for its scenes in which the proletarian heroes enjoy fellowship with the artists' colony in Carmel, and their settling in the Valley of the Moon.
Beginnings
The book begins with Billy as a Teamster and Saxon working in a laundry. Billy has also boxed professionally with some success, but decided there was no future in it. He was particularly upset by one bout in which he was fighting a friend and they had to continue fighting and making a good show of it after his friend injured a hand.
Billy and Saxon's early married life is disrupted by a major wave of strikes. Billy is involved in violent attacks on strikebreakers, and goes to jail. Saxon loses her baby in the backwash of the violence. She hears socialist arguments but does not definitively accept them, later meeting an old woman with an individualist view on relationships, describing how she successfully attached herself to a series of rich men. She also meets a lad called Jack who has built his own boat and seems to be based on Jack London himself as a teenager.
Rural Quest
When Billy is released from jail, Saxon insists that they leave the city and try to find their own farm, though they discover that the government no longer gives out land freely. They pass through an area dominated by the Portuguese, who are described to have arrived very poor and prospered by using the land more intensively than earlier European settlers, whom they displaced. A few days of their journey are spent with a middle-class woman who grows flowers and vegetables and has a flourishing business selling high-quality products to the wealthy.
Moving on, they take a liking to an artists' colony but decide to continue looking for their own place. Billy begins dealing in horses as well as driving them. He returns to the boxing ring, using a new name so he will not be identified against an up-and-coming boxer, and wins the fight within seconds. He uses his reward of 300 dollars to buy a pair of horses and, after a victory in a rematch, resolves to fight no more.
They also encounter well-known writer and journalist 'Jack Hastings', generally considered to be a self-portrait of Jack London at the time of the book's conception. Hastings' wife—presumably modeled after London's second wife—is described as bearing some resemblance to Saxon. They discuss the wastefulness of the early American farmers, namely their habits of exhausting land and moving on, reflecting Jack London's views on sustainable agriculture.
Directed to their 'Valley of the Moon', Billy and Saxon settle and live there happily at the book's end. 'Sonoma Valley' is considered by a character to be a Native American name meaning 'Valley of the Moon', though this etymology is disputed.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1913Authors

Jack London
United States
John Griffith London was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an internatio...
Books by Jack LondonDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

Capitán Veneno by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón y Ariza
Capitán Veneno is a novel set in 19th-century Spain during a time of political upheaval. It follows the story of Don Jorge de Córdoba, a man known for...

Opening a Chestnut Burr by Edward P. Roe
"In 'Opening a Chestnut Burr' by Edward P. Roe, secrets buried deep within the heart of a small New England town are about to be unearthed. Nestled am...

At the Foot of the Rainbow by Gene Stratton-Porter
At the Foot of the Rainbow is a story set in the beautiful countryside, focusing on the complex relationships between three individuals. Dannie, a kin...

Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation by Annie Fellows Johnston
The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation is a heartwarming and inspiring story about a young girl's journey of self-discovery and growth. Lloyd Sherman...

Comte de Monte-Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Edmond Dantès, a young seaman with a promising future, is arrested at his wedding ceremony under calomnious charges, and locked up in the Chateau d'If...

Dwellers in the Hills by Melville Davisson Post
In the rugged mountains of West Virginia, two cattlemen, Ward and Woodford, find themselves locked in a bitter rivalry. When Ward is laid up after a...

Avventure di Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Le avventure di Pinocchio. Storia di un burattino è il titolo del romanzo ottocentesco che ha come protagonista un notissimo personaggio di finzione,...

Aunt Crete's Emancipation by Grace Livingston Hill
Aunt Crete's Emancipation is a heartwarming and inspiring story about a selfless and devoted woman who finds freedom and happiness in the unlikeliest...

Lure of the Dim Trails by B. M. Bower
Phil Thurston, a city-dwelling writer struggling with creative stagnation, finds himself drawn back to the rugged Western landscape of his childhood....

Chaperon by Henry James
In Henry James's "The Chaperon," Rose Tramore confronts a societal dilemma. Her mother's questionable past casts a shadow over their family, leading t...
Reviews for The Valley of the Moon
No reviews posted or approved, yet...