When Jane Rules first novel Desert of the Heart was published in 1964 it was an auspicious beginning for a writer who would build a reputation on her unflinching views about sexuality relationships and the painful constrictions of societal convention Even more astonishing is the way in which the novel has retained its cool quiet beauty and power of expression decades laterEvelyn Hall is a literature professor who travels to Reno Nevada in the summer of 1958 in order to obtain a divorce and thus put an end to her disastrous sixteenyear marriage She is divorcing her husband on the advice of his psychiatrist because this being the 50s he believes that Evelyns success is causing her husbands depression During her sixweek stay at a boarding house a residency requirement Evelyn meets Ann ChildsAt once the narrative enters an aesthetic space that calls to mind the mythical preoccupations of Thomas Mann the philosophical speculations of Frederich Nietzsche the artistic theories of Camille Paglia and the wry ironic humour of Iris Murdoch They rapidly become aware of an increasing tension arising in part from the generational gap between Evelyn and this young woman who bears a striking physical resemblance to herAs for Ann she is most alluring in her representation of freedom to Evelyn from her innate artistic prowess to her unconventional liaisons amid the smoky nocturnal backdrop of casino life And once these women have found the promise of a significant relationship Rules rather...
