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A Desert of Pure Feeling: A novel

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In A Desert of Pure Feeling, Judith Freeman's character, Lucy, explores the worlds of being a mother, lover, and companion in the west. Freeman delves into the mind of Lucy, a now middle-aged woman, who has played all these roles and is striving to move on with her life while struggling to make sense of a tragic past. Freeman intermingles the past with the present, allowing the reader to fully understand what makes Lucy the woman she is. As a mother Lucy Patterson struggles with a sick infant son with a heart defect. After her son's death in Guatemala (he is a Mormon missionary who disappears after the bombing of the home of the missionaries) she is plagued by the past of being an unstable mother since giving birth to him at the young age of 19. She battles with the regret of being a self centered mother unable to focus time on her son. It was not until after he was gone that she realized how badly he needed it. Lucy's voyage through her past love life begins when she leaves her home on an Idaho ranch as a fiction writer to be the guest writer on an all expense paid trip on the Oceanus, an ocean liner aimed for shores of England. The Oceanus is the beginning of Lucy's trek back in time with the reunion of her love, Dr. Carlos Cabrera. Carlos is a well known surgeon who operated on Lucy's two-year-old son years earlier. Soon after the operation the two become lovers despite the gab in age. Their love for each other is strong, but their dedication to their separate families proves to be stronger. The lovers quickly lose contact with each other, but will never escape each other's thoughts. Their reunion aboard the Oceanus gives them a new start together. After twenty years it appears nothing has changed between them, and their love for each other proves to be as strong as ever, as they console each other after their losses: the disappearance of her son and the death of Carlos' wife. The affair again comes to a halt when Carlos' dark past of being a member of Hitler's Youth during the war comes out. Unable to face his past Carlos flings himself over the edge of the ocean liner to his death, leaving Lucy once again alone. Lucy flees to Las Vegas to the Tally Ho Inn in an attempt to make sense of her life and begin writing once again. Here Lucy meets Joycelle, a young hooker who has just discovered that she is HIV-positive and soon becomes Lucy's companion. Lucy forms a close bond with Joycelle and becomes her primary caretaker after her disease sets in. In a seeming attempt to make up for the lost time with her son, Lucy retreats to her Idaho ranch with Joycelle and spends Joycelle's last days together in the solitude of the west. Freeman's writing is surprisingly refreshing. It allows the readers to become the female character and play out her fantasies alongside her. Her description of Lucy's surroundings becomes tangible and real for the readers and lets them become emotionally attached to Lucy's lost son, Carlos, and Joycelle. By forming these attachments to the characters the readers can come to a deeper understanding of how Lucy has become the mature woman she is through dealing with a hard past and allowing herself to look toward what appears to be a hard future with the lose on another love, Joycelle. Freeman leaves Lucy as the last survivor in her world suggesting that she has conquered the harshness of life by moving on after the loss of the people who have made her who she is: a mother, lover, and companion.

Judith Freeman's "A Desert of Pure Feeling" is a contemporary love story that portrays a western woman with depth and dimension in her most intimate roles--as a daughter, wife, mother, friend, and lover. This compelling novel looks at the ways one extraordinary woman faces the task of gathering the evidence of the past into a meaningful awareness of the present. With honesty and courage, this woman searches her relationships and comes to know the secrets of her own heart. This is a western story, with a ranch in Idaho, the desert spaces of Utah, and the lure of Las Vegas. But the geography is not limited to the west. The sotry's primary setting is Las Vegas, in a motel called the Tally Ho, where Lucy, the main character and a writer, is speaking at a conference. Las Vegas was a familiar place to Lucy not only throughout her childhood vacations traveling through this city but because it was originally settled by her people and is symbolic to her of her Mormon upbringing. Lucy has traveled to Las Vegas from her home on an isolated ranch in the mountains of Idaho. At this conference she agrees to travel across the Atlantic on a ship in exchange for giving a reading during the voyage. "What I could not have known was how this decision would lead me back along the path of my own life, how it would open up old wounds and lay them bare and create new ones I hadn't expected" (13). On board she is shocked when she encounters Dr. Carlos Cabrera, the surgeon who many years ago had saved her son's life, the man to whom she had given her heart, and with whom she had hoped to share her life. The shipboard journey takes Lucy across the Atlantic Ocean and to London, filling in the crucial gaps in her relationship with Cabrera, helping her to understand the forces that have shaped this man. The ship encounters a violent storm at sea, and the motion is reflected in dangerous waves of another form. Traveling on to Cornwall, Lucy wrestles the demons from her past that threaten her hold on life. This is not a one-time reckoning, but as Lucy discovers, a process requiring both a yielding and a resistance. Judith Freeman has given us a novel that speaks to the challenge women face today in coming to terms with their own identities as revealed in their most intimate relationships. The author looks unflinchingly at the contradictions and complexity of human relationships as the character faces her role as a mother, a wife, a lover, a writer, and a human being struggling with loss. Once Lucy made choices that protected her heart; now life offers her the chance to risk loving with all her heart. To embrace love is to embrace loss, and Freeman traces Lucy's path to self-knowledge with strokes that resonate with the human yearning for meaning within ourselves and with others.

Morgan Braucht ENG 272 April 7, 1998 "A Desert of Pure Feeling: The Story of People's pasts" With her book, A Desert of Pure Feeling, Judith Freeman invites us to read a story of people who are running away from the past. One thing that you are forced to think about while reading this book is that to people who don't know their pasts these appear to be average, everyday human beings like you and me. It's not until you hear their stories that you can differentiate their lifestyles from that of the average person. Personally, I didn't agree with some of the issues that Freeman dealt with (i.e. adultery, homosexuality, etc.), but it does help the reader realize that every person in the world has their own story to tell and their own way of telling it. Las Vegas, "in the heart of the Mojave", as the author puts it, is the central setting for most of the story. Lucy, the person telling the story, is drawn to Las Vegas because of beautiful childhood memories and the fact that Las Vegas was settled by "her people". Another setting is a cruise boat where Lucy is doing a literary reading of one of her works. Here she is re-introduced to Dr. Carlos Cabrera who saved the life of her son and whom she had an affair with. This take us to Minnesota where we revisit Justin, Lucy's son, and his fight for life and the introduction of Dr. Cabrera into Lucy's life. Like the classic Westerns depicted by John Wayne or Louis L'Amour, A Desert of Pure Feeling contains many themes parallel to that of the frontier. Religion is a major part of Western America and it fills a role in this story as well. Although her father used to be the bishop of the local church, Lucy had "stopped believing in religion years ago". "Why should I believe if he doesn't", was Lucy's opinion on religion after she noticed a bit of hypocrisy on her father's part. Where as religion is usually seen as a vital part of the West, Lucy shows that one can live without it. Just like the hero that saves the day in a cowboy movie, Carlos fills the role of the strong, western male stereotype. "He was tall and rather thin and had aristocratic features - an aquiline nose and high cheekbones and a clear, straight brow." This, in similar words, is what the typical hero is pictured as. Carlos rescues Lucy from two things: her marriage and the immediate death of her young son. As it turns out, Justin brought Carlos and Lucy together not by just needing surgery, but Justin is eventually killed in Guatemala. Guatemala happens to be Carlos's native land. There are also quite a few examples of symbolism in this story. However, there were two examples that really caught my attention. Placing part of the story on a ship was very crucial. Here everyone aboard was forced to deal with the past. Since they were surrounded by nothing but water, no one could run from the past. Also, the wave that hits the boat simulates Mr. Himmelfarb showing up and bringing the past to the forefront. As stated earlier, Judith Freeman brings up many very controversial subjects. While I wasn't personally offended by any of this, it is possible for the reader to become uncomfortable reading such material. I definitely think that there is a little too much detail in some situations and this is the major drawback of the book. This book probably shouldn't be recommended to anyone that's not mature enough to handle the content. Other than that I thought the book was enjoyable reading.

Judith Freeman writes a revised western text with western themes included in "A Desert of Pure Feeling." This is a modern western with Las Vegas as a place to escape instead of the Rocky Mountains or the outback of California as seen in traditional westerns. Freeman tells how Lucy Patterson finds herself, but she has to go through many heartaches before she comes to any conclusions. This is a very emotional text that portrays the mysteries of love throughout the book, beginning with the love Lucy has for her son Justin, to the romantic love she has for Carlos Cabrera, to finally the "love" she has for Joycelle Johnson. This book speaks to the heart of anyone who has ever lost a person so close to them that it is hard to live a day without them. The book is set with three different story lines. At one point of the story, Lucy is at a hospial in St.Paul, MN with her young son Justin who has heart problems. The next chapter may have Lucy on a cruise where she runs into Carlos Cabrera, the man from her past. The present is when she is with Joycelle Johnson in a Las Vegas motel. Freeman interlaces these threee stories to tell the life of Lucy Patterson. One may say the reasoning behind using three different stories is to tell the life of Lucy Patterson. but not in sequence. One may also say the use is to tell how Lucy matured from a young adult into a mature woman. Freeman could have usedn these different stories together to suggest how these three times in her life were similiar in many ways. Lucy is a woman who goes on with her life after she loses her son and the man whom she would love for all time to certain circumstances. She is basically lost in a very big world that she claims she needs no one to survive. But she gives into these feelings with regards to "I wanted to think that there was one person on earth in whom I could confide,and who would hold me and comfort me and tell me things I wanted to hear in order to be relieved of the burden of carrying on alone..." She does encounter loss and the power to attempt to overcome it. She does make a rather bold statement with "Why had the two people I had loved most in my life both simply disappeared?" This quote makes the reader think and hopefully appreciate their loved ones. An open mind must be kept while reading this book. Many characters have to come to some type of truth and realization about their homosexual feelings. For some it is easier then others. The theme of adultery is seen also in the book at the very beginning. Freeman makes her readers come to some sort of insight about this subject. She claims that all adults do this act or wished that they did. Is that true?? Only you yourself knows if that is true. Like I said in the beginning, this text is not a traditional western. There is no gun sling, violence or cowboy rescuing a pretty little girl. This book includes the trials and tribulations of a young girl who becomes a woman. This book needs to be approached with an open mind concerning sexuality, adultery and loss. Overall, it is very moving book. If you are looking for an awe inspiring text, this book would be for you.

A Desert of Pure Feeling In A Desert of Pure Feeling, Judith Freeman has written the heart-wrenching story of Lucy Patterson, a woman who opened her heart to love without knowing the pain it would later cause. Just as the desert is uncultivated and forsaken, the character of this novel lives an unsettled life as she encounters experiences that leave her emotions scattered. With each chapter of this book, Freeman takes us farther back into Lucy's past to help us understand her inner struggles as well as her accomplishments. From the first page to the last, Freeman successfully employs flashback to capture the reader's interest in a part of Lucy's life and hold him/her there until the conclusion of the book when unravelling stories lead to an understanding of the character's life. As this story unfolds in the first scenes, Lucy finds herself in Las Vegas living in "...Motel Nowhere, a generic and slightly rundown structure in the heart of the heart of the Mojave." In this city of bright lights, fake landscapes, and people who never sleep, Lucy finds it easy to hide in the activity of daily life and reflect on the important people and events of her past. Although the significance of these relationships is found in Lucy's ability to cope with the present, each person in her life contributes a particularly interesting part to the story. In Lucy's life, perhaps it is her son who evokes the most feelings from her. "I dreamed of Justin last night. It was the old recurring dream...How many years have I been dreaming this dream or some version of it? Fifteen? Twenty? Since long before he disappeared." Justin filled her life with worry as a mother, confusion as a human being, and fear as a loved one. Lucy struggled through her son's entire life, but with each struggle she learned a little more about herself. Next, part of Lucy's inner peace was stolen by her relationship with Dr. Carlos Cabrera. Whether her feelings for Dr. Cabrera stemmed from her gratitude to the doctor for saving her son's life at birth or the possibility of an escape from an unfulfilling marriage, this relationship developed into a love affair that would encompass her for the rest of her life. It seems as though this love between Lucy and Dr. Cabrera is meant to last because their love endures a separation of time and they are reunited once again. However, dealing with secrets from the past is more than Dr. Cabrera can bear. Do not mistake this turn of events as a tragic ending because it is through the doctor's past mistakes and inability to accept the consequences that Freeman's character is allowed to finally discover her own inner self. Finally, Lucy finds companionship with an unexpected character, Joycelle. As the book draws to a close, Lucy is faced with the fear of losing yet another loved one. However, Joycelle is the one who helps Lucy cope with her own situation as well as those from her past. Lucy states, "She looks at me and I can see something written on her features. A strength and calm that seem far superior to anything I can muster." From this, the reader is shown the change in Lucy's character. Lucy is able to put the trials of her life to rest in order to give comfort and true love to Joycelle. In conclusion, A Desert of Pure Feeling is exactly what it's title suggests. Until the main character could learn to cope with reality, she was unable to keep her emotions from turning her life into a desert of uncultivated, forsaken events. The author helps the reader to realize that we cannot hide our feelings in the Las Vegas of life, but rather we must respond to our own struggles before we can find true inner peace, the prerequisite for happiness and love.

A DESERT OF PURE FELLING A Romantic Dilemma. By Judith Freeman. Adventure, companionship, and mystery: all are characteristics of a book which will pique the interest of its readers. Judith Freeman's, A Desert of Pure Feeling does exactly this. This book continues to keep its readers guessing. Well-written, it incorporates three stories in one. In the beginning it may be hard to follow, but once into the book, this way of writing seems ingenious. Just when you get into the action of one story, and you can't wait to find out what happens, the author, Judith Freeman, changes stories. Each story seems to fit in perfectly with the one prior to and following it. This style of writing keeps the interest of its readers. Freeman addresses many issues throughout this book, one major issue being companionship. This is an idea we can all relate to, whether it is a relationship with a spouse, a child, someone we're dating, or simply a relationship with a close friend or acquaintance. Freeman addresses in great detail the obstacles which must be overcome and the conflicts that may occur when in search of companionship. People do not easily fit together, they are like pieces to a jigsaw puzzle, they must try out many different places and in a variety of ways before the right connection may be made. Lucy Patterson, the woman spoken about in each of the three stories throughout the book, deals with a number of relationships along with companionship. She deals with everything from marriage and divorce to befriending a seemingly lost young woman. This is a story of a woman who has lived and experienced many things. The relationship that seems the most unusual, yet at the same time so perfect is that of Lucy and Joycelle, the young woman, single mother, prostitute, and stripper who seems in search of guidance and stability. They have much more in common than simply living in the same building. They each bring something to their relationship which allows it to grow into something which both are comfortable with. Joycelle looks to Lucy for answers and comfort depending on the situation, while Lucy relies on Joycelle for a sense of excitement and someone to look after and take care of. They find what they need in each other just as most of us do with those which we choose to have relationships with. With any relationship also comes a kind of adventure. Adventure is one thing present in most westerns. Cowboys always seem in search of an adventure, whether it be riding through unknown territory or coming in contact with animals and enemies. These ideas are similar to those adventures which Lucy encounters through the journey of her life. The sense of adventure comes into play throughout the book, especially the parts that deal with the relationship between Lucy and Dr. Carlos Cabrera. This is a relationship which comes into play at different points in Lucy's life. She is reunited with the love of her life, one thing that seems almost impossible to most people. The way the author brings them back together leaves many questions in the minds of readers. These questions are soon answered as the story continues. That is what is so great about this book, the minute a question pops into your head Judith Freeman answers it, either by changing to another story in the past or future, or just by adding details through stories told by the characters. This shows the unique writing ability of the author. She anticipates the reader's thoughts and explains situations with accurate timing. Also, with relationships and companionship there is usually a sense of mystery. This mystery keeps people interested, always wanting to know more, trying to figure out exactly who they are in a relationship with. Mystery is another characteristic that shows up in a number of westerns. The land in the west is a mystery in itself. The unexplored land of the west contains many unfamiliar and mysterious qualities. The mystery of the west also shows up in A Desert of Pure Feeling. The mystery in the book added an interesting perspective. Throughout the book, we as readers were gradually introduced to character after character, slowly learning things about each one. This was helpful in getting to know each character. When each character seems complete and there seem to be no questions left unanswered, Freeman turns the tables and shocks her readers with hidden secrets. We all have qualities and characteristics that we keep hidden from even our closest companion. Imagine revealing these deepest secrets, clearing your conscience of these things. The shock of the discussion could be overwhelming as Lucy, Dr. Cabrera, and many others find out. This adds unexpected mystery to the story that keeps readers wanting more. This is a well-written book with a variety of topics incorporated into one. Judith Freeman used the life of Lucy Patterson, the main character, and made it into a three-part story containing both accomplishments and disappointments. It is a book that will keep readers turning the pages wanting answers to the many questions that the mind and imagination quickly develop. The readers become a part of Lucy Patterson's life and feel connected to her and all of the situations which she encounters in her life and throughout the story.

If you are looking for a revisionist western that deals with more than gun slinging and horseback riding look no further. A Desert of Pure Feeling by Judith Freeman is an exhilarating book. Freeman opens the book from a seedy Las Vegas motel where the main character of the book, Lucy Patterson, has returned to write her memoirs. During the book the reader learns about the many hardships Lucy has faced during her life, and how she deals with these conflicts. As one can see this is obviously not your run of the mill John Wayne shoot 'em up novel. This novel deals with the stuggles many adults in America experience: Death, love, dispair, and infidelity. Throughout the book the reader is confronted with dilemmas in Lucy's life that she must resolve. The first major problem Lucy faces is when her new born son develops heart problems. The reader feels for this young mother who has so much to lose. this first mafor conflict in Lucy's life may arguably be one of her best experiences. while lucy's son is in the hospital Lucy meets a young cardiac surgeon, Carlos Cabrera. Lucy and Dr. Cabrera stike up a love affair that lasts for years. Finally at the end of the book we find Lucy coming to terms with the major losses in herlife and she finally finds "true love" in the most unexpected place. Many traditional westerns were written purely for entertainment, expecially the western novels released in the early half of this century. these books were simply the "televisions" of yesteryear. Judith Freeman's a desert of Pure Feeling was written as a means of challenging traditional concepts such as religion, fidelity, and the denial of homosexual urges. Freeman offers fresh ideas about these subjects. On the topic of adultery she writes, "Adultery. Something all adults did, or wished they did, or feared they might do, as if it were the inevitable--the normal state of being adult--the natural condition of adultness, this act of voluntary, and perhaps inexorable, infidelity." Now, could you ever imagine John Wayne starring at a sunset repeating those words? Tis is exactly what is so interesting about this book, it offers new alternative ways of looking at life. The only major problem there is with this book is that it seems to go overboard when dealing with the topic of homosexuality. I won't get too in depth, because I don't want to ruen it for any potential readers, but almost everyone in the book is either gay, used to be gay, has had some sort of homosexual experience, or wishes he or she was gay. This aspect of the book seemed to be totally politically motivated. The really sad thing is this overly pro-gay style of writing only took away from the book. a very believable plot went right out the window in about two pages. Of course there are gay people in the world and they deserve some sort of literary recognition, but to over do it only mocks the homosexual community. Overall this book is well written with good plot, setting, and character development. It offers, for the most part, a refreshing new view of the west. If you are looking for a traditional cowboy and Indian western don't buy this book. If you are willing to approach this book with an open mind and an open heart you will find A Desert of Pure Feeling a refreshing new twist on the often mundane world of westerns.

A Desert of Pure Feeling, a novel by Judith Freeman is about a writer, Lucy Patterson. The book contains three stories of her life: her early marriage and her dying child, a cruise honoring her as the writer on board, and a Las Vegas Motel called the Tally Ho. These separate instances intertwine throughout this book leading to a deeper understanding of Lucy's complex character. In the end, her lives must combine as one, and she must accept her past along with the present. In the book A Desert of Pure Feeling, there is a new image of the West that destroys the falsities of the West from the past. First, Lucy lived by herself in Idaho for many years. She was not brought by a man trying to move West and dragging along the poor old wife. Instead, she was the one who wanted to move West to run away from her past and the pain she felt when her son was kidnaped in Guatemala. Lucy explained to her lover Dr. Cabrera , "...it was grief and despair that drove me to retreat from the world..." The West is still portrayed as an escape from reality, and a place where the problems of life will disappear, but now it is acceptable for a woman to move West. The West itself was not enough to cure her of her tremendous pain. Certain people also use religion as an escape, especially the stereotyped women of the West. Religion in the West never assumed an important role. Many Westerns, such as, High Noon and Riders of the Purple Sage, devalued religion, and suggested that women must give up their religious beliefs and conform to the cowboy's beliefs. In A Desert of Pure Feeling, Lucy denied her religion on her own. Her father, a bishop, challenged her Mormon beliefs when he told her she could not ride her horse on the Sabbath because of the family's image. Her father told her that if it was up to him he would let her ride. The reader learns this when Lucy confided in her lover again, "At that moment I realized he didn't really believe in it, and I thought, Why should I believe if he doesn't? I'm not sure I ever really believed." This independent woman made her own decisions about her faith, which is quite different than the stereotype of the women of the West in the past. Religion did not fulfill her emptiness that she felt inside. In Riders of the Purple Sage, by Zane Grey, Lassiter, the cowboy hero, must prove to the "blind" woman, Jane, that her Mormon religion is wrong and that her people do evil. The dreams of the West are also torn down by the contrast of the true Las Vegas and the Magic Mile, or "fantasy." The true Las Vegas is described as "...an empty lot dotted with dry tumbleweed and bits of broken glass." Las Vegas is in the desert. On the other hand, on the Strip there are human built fantasies: "a pyramid, King Arthur's castle, Treasure Island, a Mayan palace, giant Easter Island heads." The dream of the West was a fertile land that on which one could grow crops, and a place where people can pick up gold right from the ground. This dream was not reality! The soil was not capable of producing crops and only the lucky few made a fortune from a gold find. In some of the Westerns, people seem to be able to escape the past and move on with their lives. In A Desert of Pure Feeling, the past always returns until the person deals with it. For example, Lucy encounters her former love Dr. Cabrera on the cruise she was invited to take as a writer. During the cruise, many characters admit or come face to face with problems from the past. A man from the past of Dr. Cabrera confronts him on this cruise about an occurrence that took place 60 years ago. People cannot deny the past, because it is part of who that person is. The idea of the western hero is replaced by a longing for a companion in which a person does not have to put on a facade. The person that Lucy finds is Joycelle. She can confide all of the secrets of her past and experience the true feelings of unconditional love. At the end of this novel Joycelle and Lucy pledge their loyalty to each other. This is the "pure feeling" that Lucy searches for throughout the novel, which is not a cowboy hero! This revisionist text recreates the myths of the West. This book is a change from the Westerns of the past. The plot keeps the reader interested, while the author makes statements about life and relationships.

In Judith Freeman's A Desert of Pure Feelings, Lucy, the narrator, takes the reader on a wild adventure through the past several years of her life. The novel is torn between several different stories that do not occur in chronological order. As the reader begins to think that they have a grasp on the story, Judith Freeman throws him/her for a loop and knocks him/her off of their feet. The story begins in Las Vegas, Nevada. The reader wonders why the book begins in such as place as this. The image of this city has become a fantasy, a place in the world that was created by humans. Lucy witnesses the destruction of innocence itself when she sees the wonders of Las Vegas. Where else can someone see white tigers in a glass room or a volcano that erupts on the hour every hour? This falseness can also be portrayed in the characters as well. Lucy hopes that one day Carlos, the married doctor that saves her child's life, will sweep her away and make her his wife. It is a picture perfect ending that only happens in movies and books. Will Lucy find true love in a man that could never be faithful to her? The only link that I could find between the west and this novel is the vastness that occurs throughout. Las Vegas is surrounded by desert. The emptiness that one feels when they go into Las Vegas is seen all around. This emptiness I am talking about is the fact that nothing is real. There is no feeling in anything that is there. It is all lights and no love. Nature doesn't dare venture into this area because it wouldn't survive. If it did decide to go there, people would probably try to put it into a glass case. Nothing there is what it seems just like the west. People went to the west to try their luck at a new life just like the people that go to Vegas. They end up losing their money and moving back east. Ef everything was as it seems, all the people of the United States would move to Vegas. It is everyone's fantasy, but for most it turns out to be a nightmare instead. One of the novel's main the! mes that is shown throughout is the idea that the past is in the present and one has to deal with it. The past always seems to come back and haunt all the characters. With Lucy, it is the fact of meeting Carlos again on the Oceanus and having to deal with the pain and agony that he caused her some many years before. For Joycelle, who is a stripper in Vegas, she must come to terms with all her past relationships with men and women before she can truely be happy. Carlos has to deal with his past as well. Carlos was part of the Hitler Youth when he lived in Germany. This horrific past comes to haunt him when he becomes a passenger on the Oceanus. The boat, Oceanus, seems to be the ship that can take one to the place where the present and past meet. In the end, Carlos could not handle the past or the present. It doesn't edn like that for all the characters. How well the characters deal with their past determines how their future will turn out. Not only is there falseness in the landscape, but also in the chacacters themselves. No one in the book turns ou the way the reader thinks they are going to. This is where the throw for a loop comes in. Everyone in the novel has a secretive past that appears when they all take a little trip on the ocean. There is nowhere to hide. The past will find you. Judith Freeman's novel was a delight to read and a change from the norm. I say a change from the norm because everyone in this novel ends up with a ver secretive sexual past. What other novel does every character have this? The story was a little hard to follow in the beginning, but once one dives in there is no turning back. I recommend this book for anyone that likes a novel with a twist.

In Judith Freeman's book "A Desert of Pure Feeling", the favorite theme of the old West was brought back. She didn't bring it back in the sense of Cowboys verse Indians. She brought back the theme of hope, courage, escape, and adventure. The West over the years has changed its look a little but the feelings of heading West is still as strong as ever. Which Freeman uses this when creating a book with traditional and nontraditional Western themes. This novel was written in a way to keep the reader on the edge. Freeman did this by tangling three different stories into one. Each story revolves around the narrator, Lucy. The book starts out with Lucy in Las Vegas. She is staying in a hotel, wondering what she is doing here. She feels that she doesn't belong here because it is too fake and unnatural, for she is used to living in a remote part of Utah. She ends up in Las Vegas because she needs to be able to write and be alone after her cruise. On her cruise she meets up with Carlos, the doctor that delivered her son and she had an affair with. This brought up the horrible and unescapable past of hers and many others. Las Vegas is very significant in this story because it represents the West and the escape from truth. It is the West of now-a-days because it is a place were people try and forget their pasts and start all over. It is a place of hopes and dreams. Yet Lucy already sees that it is fake, unlike Joycelle. Lucy looks at Vegas like it is the destruction of human nature and innocence. Joycelle only sees glamour and lights because she hasn't faced her past yet and doesn't understand that the past can't be forgotten. The cruise symbolized no escape, by being out in the middle of the ocean. The trip across the ocean can be looked at as the passage to truth and to the past. The cruise let the passengers know that there was no getting around the issues. The passengers were forced to deal with the truth. Some confronted and dealt with their past and others took the easy way out by committing suicide. The trip made us realize that we must deal with our past to live in the present and get to the future. It only gets harder when we put it off. This book is similar to the typical Western set in the nineteenth and even twentieth century. It is similar in the way that Lucy ran to Idaho to get away from her past of not being a good mother. Even Joycelle ran from her past just by staying in Las Vegas and not letting herself see the truth. She didn't want to admit to herself that it was just a vision. The pretty lights, tigers, and volcanos were just there to keep people preoccupied. That lets us know that you can't judge a book by its cover, which is what a lot of people found out when the went west for the first time. They found out that life was still really hard, if not harder, just like the characters of this book did. At the same time though, this book is a little untraditional. Most westerns end with the cowboy hero getting the girl, but most of the time the cowboy hero is a man. Well, in Freeman's book, Lucy gets the girl, Joycelle. Even on the cruise, it seemed that everyone was with someone of the same sex. I found this book very enjoyable to read. It was one of those books that was very easy to read and hard to put down. I think that it kept my attention very well with its mixing and matching of stories and also the nontraditional ideas. The nontraditional views made the book different and therefore more fun to read. It was sad at the end because I am afraid that Lucy won't learn that she can't always do enough to save someone. I have a feeling that she will just get hurt even more when she can't save Joycelle from death. I also thought it was odd that they went back to Idaho. At the end of the book it is hard not to hope that Lucy learns with and through her knew love.