The Desert of Love

by François Mauriac

Book Overview

Maria Cross--a woman who has decided to act more in tune with her desires than her 'reputation'--comes to represent all the unattainable illusion of first love to an adolescent boy. At the same time, she tempts the boy's father, a respected doctor, to recklessly abandon his career on one last, desperate fling of sensuality. The sheer force of this woman's personality leaves its indelible mark on both people. Years later, father and son encounter Maria again and discern her dominant character in a new light. Now, far from the unfulfilling passions of those troubled times, a mysterious sentiment of reconciliation and respect takes hold

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0881844853
• ISBN13: 9780881844856
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Pretty good

I thought this book was very good. It's the story of a father and son who shared a passion for a beautiful, amoral woman. Although not filled with a lot of action or dialogue, Mauriac performs a surgical deconstruction of the psyche of Raymond, Paul, and Maria Cross, the three main characters, that is fabulous and frightfully revealing. This novel is generally regarded as the best book of the Nobel Prize winning Mauriac.