Journey to a Woman

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. Beth lies awake beside her husband after another loveless encounter, crying in silence as years of marital strain, emotional miscommunication, and frustrated desire rise to the surface. A dream of Laura, the intense woman she once loved in college, brings back a past that has never fully released her, while Charlie's hurt and confusion deepen the sense of a marriage built on hope, resentment, and longing that never finds its shape. Beth loves her children and husband, but only at a distance; intimacy overwhelms her, and she often answers closeness with irritation, anger, or withdrawal. As the family moves from Chicago to California and settles in Sierra Bella, the picturesque setting only sharpens Beth's sense of confinement. Charlie's ambition, the pressures of money and children, and Beth's hunger for a bigger, brighter life push their relationship toward explosive arguments, physical struggle, and a recurring mix of domination and desire. Around them, figures like cheerful Jean Purvis and glamorous Vega Purvis expose Beth's dissatisfaction, while nights in Greenwich Village open her to lesbian bars, hidden codes, and the magnetic, unreliable world of Nina. In Nina's apartment, a charged kiss and Beth's confession of guilt about her children bring her closer to the truth she came to find: that her search for Laura may depend on trust, risk, and a self she barely recognizes.