Woman At Otowi Crossing [Paperback]

Frank Waters (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1987

Based on the real life of Edith Warner, who ran a tearoom at Otowi Crossing, just below Los Alamos, The Woman at Otowi Crossing is the story of Helen Chalmer, a person in tune with her adopted environment and her neighbors in the nearby Indian pueblo and also a friend of the first atomic scientists. The secret evolution of atomic research is a counterpoint to her psychic development. In keeping with its tradition of allowing the best of its list to thrive, Ohio University Press/Swallow Press is particularly proud to reissue The Woman at Otowi Crossing by best-selling author Frank Waters. This new edition features an introduction by Professor Thomas J. Lyon and a foreword by the author's widow, Barbara Waters. The story is quintessential Waters: a parable for the potentially destructive materialism of the mid-twentieth century. The antidote is Helen Chalmer's ability to understand a deeper truth of her being; beyond the Western notion of selfhood, beyond the sense of a personality distinct from the rest, she experiences a new and wider awareness. The basis for an opera of the same name, The Woman at Otowi Crossing is the powerful story of the crossing of cultures and lives: a fable for our times.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This reissued classic by one of the Southwest's finest writers tells the story of Helen Chalmers and her psychic and physical connections to the secret development of the atomic bomb. Helen's spiritual journey, based on the life of Edith Warner, begins the day that she discovers she has cancer. Because of the psychic powers that she gradually harnesses, she becomes a myth. Helen evolves into the Woman at Otowi Crossing--called "witch" by the Mexicans--who predicts events and thus changes the outlook of those in charge of nuclear testing. An assertion of spirit over matter takes place within her. This serves as a metaphor for the disastrous cosmic possibilities inherent in the misuse of the atom's energy. At Helen's death, the metaphor changes to the atom's radiance as a potential maker of worlds. --Susan Swartwout

About the Author

Frank Waters (1902-1995) was one of the greatest writers to come out of the American West. He wrote fiction, history, anthropology, and biography, often with a deep spiritual dimension drawn from his experience with the myth and religion of the native people of the Southwest.

Product Details

• Paperback: 314 pages
• Publisher: Swallow Press; 2 edition (August 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804008930
• ISBN-13: 978-0804008938
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I have ever read., October 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Woman At Otowi Crossing (Paperback)

The Woman at Otowi Crossing is about a white woman in a mostly Indian and Hispanic community in northern New Mexico who experiences an epiphany which confounds her family and friends. It's hard to explain it in a few words here, but basically she experiences a sudden, shocking insight that all things in the universe are connected in one big whole.

When she tries to relate this experience to her boyfriend, her daughter, and the scientific community at Los Alamos, they have a hard time grasping what she's trying to express. As time goes by, however, she becomes a mythic figure to many people.

This book is written with a lot of detail about places and atmospheres, but doesn't get bogged down in it. The development of the atom bomb is a central metaphor relating directly to the main characters' lives. I could not put the book down.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming fabrication with real southwest flavor, May 9, 2002

By 

Professor Joseph L. McCauley "Joseph L. McCauley" (Austria+Texas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Woman At Otowi Crossing (Paperback)

Flavor of the region near Taos in the time of transition of Los Alamos from an isolated boys' school to a nuclear weapons lab. Charming, gripping mysticism and sociology of local Indian mentality. Very good reading. Fabrication based on history, the real story (The House at Otowi Bridge) is less romantic and less gripping but equally interesting. I read both with pleasure.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Woman at Otowi Crossing, January 12, 2011

By 

Richard D. Cook (Albuquerque, NM, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Woman At Otowi Crossing (Paperback)

I know the granddaughter of the main character of this book doesn't like it, however, it does add to the endearment of her, to many who might not have learned about her and her awesome story, had it not been published in this fanciful and wishful thinking novel! I've read Ms. Churche's book and enjoyed it just as much, as with the "other" book of poetry, "In the Shadow of Los Alamos". I truly enjoyed all three books!