A Desert between Two Seas: A Novel in Stories

by A. Muia

Set in the crumbling Spanish missions of nineteenth-century Baja California, this mythic novel in linked stories follows two grief-stricken people as haunted as the desolate chapels around a priest who caused the drowning of a native boy by compelling him to fish for pearls, and a deaf woman trying to outrun her murderous reputation as a pistolera. Though the stories span landscapes, villages, characters, and decades, the heart of the novel is Baja California itself—a stark land of cactus and creosote, of russet canyons and splintered wastes of rock—where people living in the shadow of ruined missions seek redemption on an inhospitable peninsula forsaken even by its priests.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

262 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2025

About the author

A. MUIA is the winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction for her novel A Desert Between Two Seas, published with the University of Georgia Press. Her stories and articles have appeared in The Baltimore Review, Chicago Review, Grist, Image Journal, Water~Stone Review, West Branch, AWP's The Writer's Chronicle, and other journals. Her fiction has been anthologized in The Orison Anthology, nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and was a finalist for the Iowa Short Fiction Award. Her novel is a 2026 Top Pick for the Southwest Books of the Year. She is pleased to serve as a teaching writer with Underground Writing, leading workshops with youth in juvenile detention. Find out more at www.amuia.net.

Reviews

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muia has (re)created a world in her historical novel-of- stories that lives on the page and in the reader’s mind. The opening tale (seeming as if it’s been pulled from ancient lore) is of a young pearl diver considered to be the (adopted) son of a priest. Their story haunts the rest of the novel as the latter moves forward with its gorgeous prose, especially in the service of the landscape, and its frustratingly human characters.

As you realize how later characters are connected to earlier ones, you’ll want to retrace your reading steps in the same way that a few of the characters track an elusive object of desire that has caused such grief in their search for beauty, power, and misguided love.

4.5

Thank you to the author for a copy of this book, given to me freely with no expectation of a review.

[Gretchen Harriman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A literary masterpiece. Muia’s portrayal of Baja California and its characters is intelligent and lyrical, gritty and haunting. The stories are intricately woven, spanning generations and traversing every part of the peninsula. Each page is filled with the harsh realities of the landscape and complexities of the human sprit. This book has all the makings of a classic and the Flannery O’Connor Award is clearly deserved.

[Dean Snider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meaningful Read!

The characters and their stories in this enriching read leaves one with a sense of gratitude for living in our own time and a sense of wonder for a world away. Through sorrow and shame, loss and desire, they traverse the dry and rocky landscape in search of what they may never find. Still, they do find small graces and pass them down bloodlines. Reading their stories, I was totally absorbed in the lives of these characters and enriched by the empathy they moved in me. A meaningful read that I could hardly put down even once the final words were realized.

[ren]

A Desert Between Two Seas:A Novel in Stories is amazing journey through generations following a story filled with love loss hardships and more. With A. Muias writing you can taste and feel the deserts, smell the seas and feel the emotions as you join this journey. I had to read it back to back just because I was so immersed in the setting and characters I didn't want it to end. I'm not a writer and don't have a way with words but this novel was captivating in a way I struggle to explain. Fantastic

[Robert Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

After finishing this collection of short stories, I may awake each day for a week, and ask myself: “Am I here in the world in which I reside, or am I there in the world of which I read?" I add this title to my short list of Best Books Ever!

[Bethany Dearborn Hiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning writing and eloquent descriptions immerse you in the landscape and stories of Baja California as this novel gently pulls you along. I found myself drawn into the depth and mystery of the characters, moved by the heartaches, joys, and harsh realities that A. Muia so eloquently depicts. Like any good novel, I didn't want it to end, but rare for me was to finish and want to start over, to meet the characters at the beginning of the journey and walk again with them through their deserts of life--both figurative and real.

[Kathryn Trueblood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is completely immersive. I haven’t felt anything like this since I read Cormac McCarthy or Annie Proulx, both of whom also have a feeling for landscape that borders on trance-inducing. The desert between two seas refers to Baja, California (see the antique map), and the linked stories range in years from 1820 to 1937.

Unlike a novel, a linked collection doesn’t tie up its loose ends; it is a form that suggests the raveling and unraveling narratives of the heart, which cannot be fit into tidy forms.

I didn’t want to read _A Desert Between Two Seas_ fast. I wanted to savor one story each night: every night, one story, binding me in a dream. “Las Salinas” made me want to cry. The remorseful priest who cannot find absolution takes solace in a donkey who kicks him, until they meet salt miners on the beach. Sometimes Muia’s sentences are mercilessly short: "The sand was black with blood, the fire cold." But then fifty pages later, there was union, a man and a woman could briefly touch and be touched: "Bats flitted down and flew again into the stars." And "The air was alive with the pulse of frogs."

Then there is Dolores herself, a central character across these pages, a woman without ears who will never hear the frogs, though she is so strange she may navigate by echolocation. And stranger still, is the falluquero’s love for her, and his ability to forgive.

Muia is an exceptional writer, reminiscent of Carson McCuller, aware of the heart in its stony contractions and melancholy longing. I will remember this one.

[Alana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a masterfully crafted story that weaves together stark realism with delicate strands of hope throughout. Muia captures the crushing weight of her characters' circumstances and the harsh environment they traverse with language that is both elegant and poetic. I was utterly captivated.

Through grief and regret, longing and anguish, the characters navigate desolate and merciless terrain seeking something that may forever remain elusive. Yet, tiny moments of beauty propel them forward. As their stories unfolded, I was transported to the era of weathered, wind-swept settlements they called home. I could almost sense the hot sun burn my skin, taste the arid dust in my throat, and feel the profound thirst they had not only for the sustenance and relief that water gives, but also for the healing touch of genuine human bonds.

[Lola · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Desert Between Two Seas is a meditative read, a slow burn filled with memorable characters, moral complexity, and rich settings. One that you will think about after you’ve finished. The author crafts a landscape of loss and longing, inhabited by people who are broken and fierce.

At it's core, the book centers on two deeply flawed characters; a mission priest, Espin, plagued by a misguided desire for pearls and haunted by his role in the death of a native boy who he considered a son. And a deaf woman, Delores, struggling with her reputation as a "pistolera" and the men that want to conquer her. There are many other characters directly or indirectly connected to these three.

I am considering rereading and making a map of how the characters in each short story are connected as the stories move through time.

[Ann McCurdy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book, beautifully set in the dry, unsparing, unforgiving beauty of Baja California, with its many richly-rendered characters in search of forgiveness—for others and themselves. “A Novel in Stories” is an odd description, but an apt one: each chapter is a short story complete unto itself, but reading them in order brings depth and detail as characters reappear and relate to each other. (In contrast, the stories in Elizabeth Strout’s “Olive Kitteridge” can often be read in any order.) I liked the resulting structure. The author is obviously well in the geography, history, and peoples of the region she writes about. The characters—including a guilt-ridden priest and a tough deaf woman—are each flawed, believable, and compelling. Read it! You won’t regret it.

[Jan Rystrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

“A Desert Between Two Seas” is an extraordinary story set in colonial Baja California. The writing is beautifully spare, with enough description to kindle a vivid imagery of the rugged landscape without hope of hospitality. The characters appear in the narrative as unlovely, not expecting, or possibly not accepting love. The author offers them without pretention and without judgement for their limitations.
The stories, for this is a novel told in stories, lead us through the eras of the land and the lives of its inhabitants. They weave through each other’s lives, sharing threads of something almost mystical, and in the end, finding grace if not redemption.
The author’s extensive research and personal exploration of the area are evident in this beautifully written novel.

[Karen Westra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that makes you want to slow down just to savor the writing. I often found myself going back to reread a paragraph—not because I missed something, but because the imagery is beautiful, even when she’s describing desolate places or hard lives.

I love how the stories connect through shared characters. Some chapters could easily stand alone, but then a familiar face shows up again, and you see them in a new light.

The author has keen insight into the longings and failures of the human heart, yet she writes with compassion and hope. Even in the middle of pain and struggle, there’s a chance for grace.

I’m definitely bringing this one to book club!

[Deb B · Rating 5 out of 5]

The word I would use to describe this book is “brutiful”, brutal and beautiful at once (h/t to Glennon Doyle). The landscape of Baja California is harsh and unrelenting, and the people there are engaged in a daily struggle to survive. Yet there is love, and kindness, and mystery. And maybe, at the end, redemption.

I read this slowly, story by story, put it down for a bit to ponder, then continued on to see where it would lead me. A. Muia's prose is spare and graceful, and she deftly weaves the separate strands of the stories into a compelling narrative that brings the landscape of Baja California and its people to life.

[Beth Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book because of the setting in Baja, and as soon as I was into the first chapter, I realized I was reading an extraordinary novel. Author A. Muia's writing and masterful storytelling captivated me. I am now reading A Desert Between Two Seas for the second time. I just can't get enough of her imagery, characters, and symbolism. I would categorize this book as a contemporary classic and a must read.

[Lawrence Aggro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blown away. Character development and writing are beautiful. Hooked from page 1. Generational stories that develop over time in Baja Mexico. History lesson, intriguing characters, lovely writing are all there. Pink Pearls, Mezcal, pistols, traditional meals, native peoples vs the new missionaries introducing a foreign religion, clash and sometimes love. I wonder about the people who live there now.

[Rodd Pemble · Rating 5 out of 5]

A journey through the harsh lives and landscapes of Baja California, spanning several generations of heartbreaking characters in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Muia pulls us deeply into the challenging worlds of colonial exploitation, religious exploration, and the simple struggle to survive in a desert land. How refreshing then when despite all, grace surfaces, often in the most unlikely of souls. Thought provoking and satisfying.

[Drew Winsor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful and eloquent, Muia's sparse writing will transport you to that thin peninsula and the hard-scrabble lives her characters inhabit. She is clearly a deep researcher with an excellent sense for story and story potential. The chapters captivated me, and more that once broke my heart. Highly recommended.

[Kevin Meenaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although not necessarily my literary style, this is an amazing set of stories. The details and thought that Amy put into this are extraordinary, and show how well she connected with the characters. As I read, I felt like I was there in the churches, hills, heat, prisons and trails of Baja California.

[Ronna Husby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muia's book gives you a feel for the people and the Baja region. Her writing pulls you into each story and character. As each chapter is a stand alone story you can read each one and savor it on it's own. Very much enjoyed this book!

[Bonnie Hull · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazingly well researched book invited me into the lives of earthy and flawed characters who struggle to find love and grace. Amy Muia is a gifted storyteller who doesn’t shy away from all that is difficult but yet true about being human.

[Marion Oman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it a poetic piece. I read it twice, liking it better each time. Muia weaves the stories in a very thought provoking way. I found myself pausing to enjoy her phrasing and understated way of writing. The characters are all too human!

[Benjamin Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book. The prose is understated and lyrical, with a quiet power. The stories are compelling both emotionally and narratively. The setting is vividly depicted, and the characters are full of human depth.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the precision of Muia's writing. Each chapter is complete in itself, yet dependent on others. I liked the continuity of divisions. The importance of place. Of past.
Diane Glancy

[Kj · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful writing

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Desert Between Two Seas is unique in its form, its characters and above all its landscapes in time and space - Baja California Mexico 1820 to 1937.
It’s an immersive reading experience you’ll want to savor for its language which conjures vivid images to the point that you almost feel the desert dust on your face and hands.
It’s a mythic tale of loss, grief, love, beauty, violence and redemption. You’ll want to follow this cast of characters to the end of their individual pilgrimages and beyond. Enjoy!

[Tracy Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this novel felt like discovering a new genre. Muia's writing is superb and intense. It allowed me to enter a part of history, geography and storytelling that was challenging and intriguing. It's deep and it had me continually asking questions. If this book was a hike I would say pace yourself, drink lots of water and take a walking stick (for me this was my dictionary - I leaned into it a few times). It's not an easy read, but the views throughout and especially at the end, are so rewarding and wondrous.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book to be read slowly and savored. Each story takes you back to a time long forgotten, with thoughtfully written characters that you will want to revisit multiple times. A true classic.

[Carol M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich with detail and lyrical prose, this book stayed with me. The sense of place is haunting and the characters are unique: imperfect and unpredictable. I loved it!