Desert of the Heart vs Dusty Answer: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: LGBTQ fiction before Stonewall, Lesbians, Fiction

Desert of the Heart Jane Rule · 1964 ★★★★☆ 4.0 224 pages · ≈ 4 h 09 m · Moderate

Possibly Jane Rule's best known novel, The Desert of the Heart is the story of a free spirited woman falling for a repressed older woman. Evelyn Hall is taking respite at a ranch for women as she seeks a divorce after…

Divorced women Identity Interpersonal relations

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Dusty Answer Rosamond Lehmann · 1927 ★★★★☆ 3.8 340 pages · ≈ 6 h 18 m · Challenging

Rosamond Lehmann's first novel, now a classic of British literature, tells a luminous story of friendship, discovery, and forbidden love This debut novel, set in the early 1900s, tells the story of Judith Earle, a…

Unrequited love Gay teenagers Teenagers Young women

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Side by side

The verdict

Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
Desert of the Heart is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 6 for Dusty Answer.
Dusty Answer has the widest readership — 1000 ratings behind its score.

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How to choose

Want a one-evening read? Desert of the Heart ≈ 4h vs 6h for Dusty Answer New to the genre? Desert of the Heart Moderate vs Challenging for Dusty Answer

Scores by source

	Desert of the Heart	Dusty Answer
Goodreads	—	3.8 (1000)
Hardcover	3.9 (8)	2.8 (2)
Apple Books	4.5 (15)	—
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Reception

	Desert of the Heart	Dusty Answer
Ratings	15	1000
Editions	29	32
Film adaptations	1	1
Want to read	—	2629
Reading it now	—	64
Written reviews	—	151
Wikipedia attention	604	445
Pages	224	340
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Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: Desert of the Heart or Dusty Answer?

Desert of the Heart has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Desert of the Heart 4.0/5, Dusty Answer 3.8/5).

Which is shorter to read: Desert of the Heart or Dusty Answer?

Desert of the Heart is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Desert of the Heart (224 pages, ≈ 4 h 09 m); Dusty Answer (340 pages, ≈ 6 h 18 m).

Which is harder to read: Desert of the Heart or Dusty Answer?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Desert of the Heart: Moderate; Dusty Answer: Challenging.