Showing results by author "Mary Hunter Austin" in All Categories

The Land of Little Rain is a book of sketches which portray the high desert country of southern California, where the Sierras descend into the Mojave Desert. Mary Austin finds beauty in the harsh landscape: "This is the sense of the desert hills--that there is room enough and time enough. . . The treeless spaces uncramp the soul." Her story begins with the water trails that lead toward the few life giving springs--the way marked for men by ancient Indian pictographs. Life and death play out at these springs. Rabbits fall prey to the coyote; buzzards hang heavily in the sky above. She then ...

In her captivating 1912 novel, Mary Hunter Austin (1868-1934) weaves a tale inspired by her own experiences, bringing to life the struggles of a remarkable woman torn between her public aspirations and private longings. Set against the backdrop of a post-Civil War Midwest, the story follows Olivia Lattimore, a tragic actress navigating the tumultuous waters of romance and art. With poetic insight, Austin delves into the myriad social and economic hurdles that gifted women like Olivia encounter in their quest for self-fulfillment. In a cynical Gilded Age America, she poses a poignant question ...