The Radiant Dark is incandescent.
- Sarah Jessica Parker, SJP Lit
Arrival meets Wild Dark Shore in this captivating novel that follows a family for over fifty years—a bold and compassionate exploration of the universe around us and what it truly means to be human.
ISBN
9781638932529
Language
English
Page count
416
Edition
Hardcover
Sale date
April 28, 2026
Dimensions
6 x 9
About the Book
It’s March 1980, and Carol Girard and her husband are living an ordinary life in a small town in the Adirondacks. They have just had their first child, and though Carol is struggling with the challenges of new motherhood, her future seems clear. Until something extraordinary happens: an inexplicable flickering of light in the sky, which is ultimately determined to be communication from intelligent life on another planet. But these beings are eleven light-years away, and nothing is known about them other than the fact that they seem to know we exist too. And so begins a decades-long exchange of messages with this mysterious, faraway civilization.
As humanity reels from a shifting understanding of its place in the universe, we follow the stories of the Girard family: Carol, whose fascination with this other life sparks a desperate search for spiritual meaning; Michael, her loyal son, who finds solace not in the stars above his head but in the ground beneath his feet; and Ro, Carol’s bright and ambitious daughter, whose childhood goal to work in interstellar communication will evolve into something far grander.
Tracing five decades of love, loss, ambition, and self-discovery, The Radiant Dark is a stunning examination of a family navigating their lives with the knowledge that we are not alone.
Reviews
“Alexandra Oliva is a master storyteller, her work is atmospheric, imaginative, and riveting. The Radiant Dark is a sprawling epic of the fate of one family, foretold in the stars through time and space. The Girard family is unforgettable in their ties to one another and the universe they live in. It’s all here. Mystery. Wonder. Surprise—and the power of love. An immersive read that will lead you home.”
“The Radiant Dark is unforgettable. Daring and expansive, soul-stirring, and precise, this is a novel about love and belonging—to our ancestors and descendants, our families and ourselves, and to one another. I ached and I cried, my heart was filled with a gentle hope for the people who come after us. Oliva writes with triumphant beauty: we are not alone.”
“Equal parts compassionate and piercing, The Radiant Dark is a profound family portrait set against the history-altering backdrop of First Contact—and the kind of book you can’t stop thinking about long after you finish.”
“A luminous tale of First Contact told through the intimate microcosm of a single family, spanning generations of love, loss, and wonder. The Radiant Dark reminds us that the vastness of the cosmos is most deeply felt in the quiet rooms of our own lives. I was enthralled. I still am.”
“The Radiant Dark braids together an alternate past and a distant future with sparkling clarity. Alexandra Oliva is a rare talent, gifting us a sweeping yet intimate vision of what it means to learn we are not alone.”
“Alexandra Oliva blends a close portrait of one American family, in all its promise and fragility, with a thrilling communication from a civilization eleven light-years away. A sensitive and gripping examination of emotional inheritance, personal responsibility, love, and ambition, and a nuanced—and ultimately hopeful—perspective on the future of our pale blue dot.”
“All the wonder of a first contact novel, beautifully interwoven with the saga of an unraveling family. I couldn’t put it down. The Radiant Dark is a masterful novel that sees as far as distant star systems and as close as the dining room table, brimming with characters that live with you long after you’ve finished the book. A cosmically intimate homage to the home we all have to make between the earth and the sky.”