Woman At Otowi Crossing (Paperback)

by Frank Waters (Author) "The woman at Otowi Crossing heard it now for the last time as she had heard it day after day for years on end: that..." (more)
Key Phrases: Miss Chalmers, New York, Otowi Crossing (more...)

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

Product Description

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.

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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 (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #95,894 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 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

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.

1 of 1 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

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.

5.0 out of 5 stars Mystery and Secrets, December 12, 2008

By	earthstarising (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This is an amazing story, well told. Waters maintains a dramatic tension between the inner psycho-spiritual awakening of the Woman at Otowi crossing and the nearby highly secretive operations by the Federal Government. In entirely different ways, the Government's secret work and the awakening of the woman at Otowi Crossing, both impact the world at large. After reading this book I want to read the historical information on which it is based.