Desert Palms

Authors

Carolyn D. Pledge-Amaral, fiuFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Major/Program

Creative Writing

First Advisor's Name

Les Standiford

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

John Dufresne

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

Donna Aza Weir-Soley

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

Fiction, novel, creative writing

Date of Defense

10-27-2016

Abstract

DESERT PALMS is a contemporary women’s novel set in an Arizona RV park. When Miamians Margie Campos and her husband, Carlos, unexpectantly inherit Desert Palms, a rundown retirement community, Margie reluctantly agrees to stay in Arizona to overhaul the park. With the discovery of a secret letter that threatens to unravel the family, an unscrupulous broker determined to buy the park on the cheap, and a husband bent on hitting it big, Margie digs in and starts to find purpose amidst a desert microcosm.

Told from Margie’s perspective in a closely attached third person, DESERT PALMS is a realistic and humorous narrative that falls somewhere between the style of Liane Moriarty in, “The Husband’s Secret” and Anne Tyler in her novel, “Back When We Were Grownups.” DESERT PALMS offers an offbeat cast of central characters who help Margie gain a deeper understanding of herself and what makes life worth living.

Identifier

FIDC001248

Recommended Citation

Pledge-Amaral, Carolyn D., "Desert Palms" (2016). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2977.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2977