Swift as Desire - by Laura Esquivel (Paperback)

About the Book

Now in paperback comes Esquivel's bestselling story of a telegraph operator who is born with the ability to "hear" people's true feelings and respond to their unspoken desires. When a terrible event shatters his marriage, Jbilo loses his power just when he needs it most.

Book Synopsis

As the millions of fans of Like Water for Chocolate know, Laura Esquivel is a romanticist whose novels explore the power of love and the truths of the human heart. She returns to those themes in Swift as Desire, the story of a loving and passionate man who has the gift of bringing happiness to everyone except his own wife.

The hero of this novel is Júbilo Chi, a telegraph operator who is born with the ability to "hear" people's true feelings and respond to their most intimate, unspoken desires. His life changes forever the day he falls deeply and irrevocably in love with Lucha, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy family. She believes money is necessary to insure happiness, while for Júbilo, who is poor, love and desire are more important than possessions. But their passion for each other enables them to build a happy life together -- until their idyll is shattered by a terrible event that drives them bitterly apart. Only years later, as Júbilo lies dying, is his daughter able to unravel the mystery behind her parents' long estrangement and bring about a surprising reconciliation.

Review Quotes

"Winsome. . . . It's impossible not to be moved." -Elle

"Passionate, lyrical, and dramatic, this novel . . . reads smart and has a big heart." -O Magazine

"Swift as Desire has many charms." -The New York Times

About the Author

Laura Esquivel is the award-winning author of Like Water for Chocolate, which has sold more than four and a half million copies around the world in thirty-five languages, as well as The Law of Love and, most recently Between Two Fires. She lives in Mexico City.