Land of the Afternoon Sun [Hardcover]

New York Timesbestselling author Barbara Wood's latest novel follows a disinherited English baron and a young New York heiress who marry and move West to build an agricultural empire in Palm Springs in the 1920s when it was just a budding town on the edge of the Mojave Desert. It's a saga about ambition on both large and small scales and the rapidly modernizing world as the harsh, sun-drenched landscape transforms from a Native American haven to the playground of Hollywood's rich and famous.

Land of the Afternoon Sunis also the story of a woman finding her own personality and strength in the West against a breathtaking desert landscape that changes constantly and shows its deadly side in poisonous snakes, flash floods and sand storms, with dramatic moments of forbidden romance, reversals, treachery, betrayal and, ultimately, triumphs.

At its essence, Woods narrative is about respect, resilience, and rebirth. Publishers Weekly

This riveting story brings a clash of cultures and changes in the American West to light, along with the growth of well-developed characters. The author has researched her period well. Both Prohibition and womens rights are being challenged, and laws make it difficult for women to obtain divorces and birth control devices. Readers will become aware of the many concurrent issues of this era in Americas growth as a country, as well as the impact of the laws concerning women and the need to challenge them. The story has an exciting and satisfactory conclusion. -Historical Novel Society

Barbara Wood is an entertainer. -Washington Post Book World

A master storyteller. -Tulsa World