Immortalised for a whole new generation by the film 'Desert Hearts', Jane Rule's classic Desert Of The Heart is arguably her finest novel. Told with all the wit and skill of this fine novelist, the book stands as a classic of lesbian literature.

Evelyn Hall, a controlled and vulnerable east coast English professor, travels to Reno intent on dissolving the unfulfilling 12-year marriage from her mentally-ill husband. But when she gets to Nevada, where she has to wait until her papers come through, a whole new world opens up to her when she meets up with a fiery yet sensitive lesbian casino worker, Ann Child, 15 years her junior and a free spirit, who forces her to confront emotions she hasn't experienced in years.

Evelyn at first resists Ann's overtures, but as time goes on, she is forced to admit her attraction. But as Evelyn's days in Nevada come to a close, she faces a quandary: can she actually bring this randy cowgirl into her stodgy, intellectually elite New York life? Or will she have to give up the best love she's ever experienced?

222 pages