Sara Lyons has deep secrets that no one in her family know
about. When a neighbor notifies Sara's niece Janice
that Sara's been missing for the past few days, it leads
her family to discover that they know very little about her
and what kind of person she was.
This story is about Sara's journey from childhood to adult,
which is riddled with traumatic events in her personal
life. She becomes pregnant at a young age and is forced to
have an abortion that leads to a hysterectomy. Following
that, her parents, seeing no other path for her, force her
into a marriage with a man who turns out to be a violent
abuser. We learn about a secret relationship she has with
another woman -- something that was very taboo during her
time. And of her second marriage to a gentle man who's
involved with secret government projects.
BEYOND ALL DESIRING is the kind of book that makes you
realize that you're not the first generation to discover
everything. Yes, our parents, aunts and uncles all
basically did the same things we did growing up. They have
a past and secrets we're likely never to know. I thought
this was a fantastic book that looks into the life of a
woman who didn't conform to the rules of society in her
time. Sara was her own woman and she marched to her own
beat. I found that I didn't like her family much,
especially having learned so much about the type of woman
she was, but that's part of it as well. Her family judges
her based on what they see and know, but no one can truly
know exactly what kind of a life a person lives. A
wonderfully realistic story about a woman who's the odd one
out in her family but in the end is the one who makes a
major difference in their lives.
When Sara's niece, Janice, is notified that her sharp-witted
aunt, now in her 80s, hasn't been seen for several days,
Janice's panicky drive to find out what's happened begins
our journey of discovering that Sara has led a life very
different from what her relatives and friends assume.
Historical events of the mid-to-late 20th Century form a
backdrop to Sara's often tumultuous personal life, which we
follow from Trenton, NJ, to Washington, DC. As Sara visits
an art museum exhibit about Buddhism, we learn of her two
marriages--the first to an abusive man and the second to a
kind man who was involved in top secret projects and who
develops a bizarre illness. We discover her long but secret
love relationship with a woman. And we learn of hidden
booklets which hold the key to yet another secret.
Stylistically innovative, Beyond All Desiring is
realistic and magical, erotic and spiritual. It gives us a
rare look into the heart of a woman who was "different" in a
time of conformity, and who ultimately made a big difference
in the lives of those close to her.
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