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Desert of the Heart

A Novel

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Desert of the Heart

By: Jane Rule
Narrated by: Traci Odom
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About this listen

"A landmark work of lesbian fiction" and the basis for the acclaimed film Desert Hearts (The New York Times).

Against the backdrop of Reno, Nevada, in the late 1950s, award-winning author Jane Rule chronicles a love affair between two women.

When Desert of the Heart opens, Evelyn Hall is on a plane that will take her from her old life in Oakland, California, to Reno, where she plans to divorce her husband of 16 years. A voluntary exile in a brave new world, she meets a woman who will change her life.

Fifteen years younger, Ann Childs works as a change apron in a casino. Evelyn is instantly drawn to the fiercely independent Ann, and their friendship soon evolves into a romantic relationship. An English professor who had always led a conventional life, Evelyn suddenly finds all her beliefs about love, morality, and identity called into question. Peopled by a cast of unforgettable characters, this is a novel that dares to ask whether love between two women can last.

Contains mature themes.

©1964 Jane Rule (P)2020 Tantor Classics Fiction Gay Studies Genre Fiction LGBTQ+ Studies Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Love, Dating & Attraction Relationships Romance Women's Fiction
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Awesome narration by Traci Odom

I did not expect to be confronted with a philosophical sapphic romance. If you’ve ever read The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Desert of the Heart was maybe just 50% less philosophical than Wilde’s novel. This story was so rich in its comparison and dissection of life, religion, morals, conventions, basically everything! What I was most impressed about was how the author rebooted my brain from hating a desert place into looking past the arid land and admiring humankind’s capabilities of transforming a dead end place (Reno, Nevada specifically) to a thriving microcosm independent of natural resources.

This book was quite cerebral which separates itself from other sapphic novels.

Cerebral

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The narrator, Traci Odom, brings this well loved classic to life once more. Listen to the lyrical and literary words of Jane Rule as you travel back in time to the 60’s. Divorce, gambling, love and redemption are all found here, in Reno. You’ll fall in love once more with Evelyn and Ann and the charismatic supporting cast of characters. A novel to immerse yourself in, to luxuriate in the wordsmith of this classic lesbian novel.

A true 5 star read

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