The Ordinary Truth

"With tough women and sensitive men, desert–dry humor, hot–springs sensuality, heartbreaking secrets, escalating suspense, and a 360–degree perspective on the battle over water, Richman's twenty–first–century western is riveting, wise, and compassionate."

—BOOKLIST, starred review

When Nell Jorgensen buried her husband, she buried a piece of herself—and more than one secret. Now, thirty–six years later, the rift between Nell and her daughter Kate threatens to implode as Kate, now forty–six and a water manager for the Nevada Water Authority, plans to pipe water from a huge aquifer that lies beneath the family ranch to thirsty Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Nell's twenty–one–year–old granddaughter Cassie intends to unearth those old secrets and repair the resentments that grew in their place. Throughout the novel, sparse and beautiful landscapes surround an emotional wilderness of love, loss, and family.


Jana Richman is the award–winning author of The Last Cowgirl, which won the 2009 Willa Award for Contemporary Fiction. A sixth–generation Utahn, Jana was born and raised in Utah's west desert, the daughter of a small–time rancher and a hand–wringing Mormon mother. With the exception of a few misguided years spent in New York City trying to make a fortune on Wall Street, she has lived her entire life west of the hundredth meridian. She writes about issues that threaten to destroy the essence of the West—and about passion, beauty, and love. Jana lives in Escalante, Utah.