A Desert of Pure Feeling

by Judith Freeman

From the writer whose voice Carolyn See has characterized as one of the strangest, most distinguished in American fiction writing today ("There is really nothing to compare her with, except, maybe, the austere beauty of a Japanese rock garden"), here is a richly dramatic novel about a woman struggling to make peace with herself as a mother, a lover, an artist, and a friend.

Lucy Patterson has just encountered her past in the person of a man whom she has not seen for twenty-five years. Dr. Carlos Cabrera saved the life of her infant son, and it was her love for him that compelled her to end her marriage -- the first moment in an arc of emotional turbulence and upheaval that has since defined her existence. Her past having caught up with her, Lucy has come to an isolated motel in the desert outside Las Vegas to write out her life, reexamine it, and, she hopes, find its calm center. It's a journey she is determined to make alone, but in the next room is a young woman -- a single mother, stripper, and prostitute panicked about her own life -- whom Lucy finds she cannot, and finally does not want to, ignore. A fiercely odd pair, they nonetheless become indispensable to each other in navigating the emotional terrain of their past and in finding, separately and together, clear paths into the future.

A Desert of Pure Feeling is the finest work we have yet seen from a writer whose gifts, at once lyrical and tough-minded, become vividly apparent in this penetrating and compelling story.

Genres: Fiction

274 pages, Hardcover

First published April 23, 1996

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this one moving, vivid, and interesting. There did seem to be a little much of a plan to it, which made some things a bit easy to anticipate, but the bones only came close to the surface once in a while. It was still a pretty captivating read for the most part, and definitely enjoyable.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't notice a single cliche in this book, which is remarkable and worth three stars for that alone.

The protagonist is a woman whose life is woven around three significant relationships, only one of which is a romantic relationship with a man. Getting into plot specifics would lead to spoilers, so I'll just note that it deals with the issue of forgiveness and the question of how long one maintains responsibility for acts committed long ago, even in childhood, a question worth pondering.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful writing

[Kris Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

my first no photo on good reads book -- ok to read just not memorable

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the dual, interweaved storylines. But overall, the book is kind of insubstantial. I don't know what I learned from it or insight that it gave me.

[Lychee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought it on a whim and because I loved the idea of the title (and like the cover design), and while I hardly remember the story, it touched me in a way no other book has. Perhaps it's time for a re-read, or at least to finally read something else by her to see if it grabs ahold of another piece of my psyche.

[Mell]

I hated... allow me to repeat HATED this book. I reviewed it on my blog which I believe still exists. www.purplemonkeylover.blogspot.com On the right there should be something about HoneyBee's reads or some such. read that review, but DO NOT read this book.

[Cynthia Sillitoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skillful past and present narrative. I wish I'd read this before her memoir as the autobiographical parts didn't meld into the narrative as they would have if I hadn't have known what was fiction and what was not.

[Yansi Cano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't express the love for this book. I loved it so much, I cried...
The ending was just wow.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reflection on the evolution of a love affair.