Judith Freeman

The Chinchilla Farm

"[A] touching picaresque journey through the deserts of the west and the landscape of memory."—Washington Post Book World

Verna Flake is fleeing Utah, a failed marriage (her husband has left her for a former beauty queen named Pinky), and the constricted yet reliable Mormon way of life. Seemingly naive but also gifted with an almost second sight for the emotional heart of things, Verna relates her adventures on the road, in Los Angeles, and eventually in Mexico, as she confronts her future and muses over her past. Reading group guide included.

"An almost Tolstoyian insight into the human plight.... A beautiful book."—New York Times Book Review

"Elegant and unexpected.... Literature at its best."—Chicago Tribune

"A tremendous coup for a first novel, for any novel. Freeman introduces us to an America of transcendental landscapes, cultures like forgotten flowers and festive, fierce cities.... Freeman brings her richest gifts to literature."—The Nation

"Purely, simply, beautiful."—Philadelphia Inquirer