Burning Distance is a double helix of a book, carefully plotted and beautifully told. It’s a spy story interwoven with a love story, and the strands fit together in a way that moves the reader effortlessly from chapter to chapter . . . A subtle and satisfying novel.”

—David Ignatius, journalist and best-selling author

The Far Side of the Desert is that rare story-a literary work and a first-rate thriller.”

—Jennifer Clement, former PEN International President and award-winning novelist


The Far Side of the Desert is a riveting thriller with richly nuanced characters and fast-paced action.”

—Robin Wright, award-winning journalist and author

Burning Distance is a double helix of a book, carefully plotted and beautifully told. It’s a spy story interwoven with a love story, and the strands fit together in a way that moves the reader effortlessly from chapter to chapter . . . A subtle and satisfying novel.”

—David Ignatius, journalist and best-selling author

The Far Side of the Desert is that rare story-a literary work and a first-rate thriller.”

—Jennifer Clement, former PEN International President and award-winning novelist

The Far Side of the Desert is a riveting thriller with richly nuanced characters and fast-paced action.”

—Robin Wright, award-winning journalist and author

About Joanne

Joanne Leedom-Ackerman is a novelist, short story writer, and journalist. Her fiction includes regional bestseller The Dark Path to the River and No Marble Angels. A former reporter for The Christian Science Monitor, Joanne has won awards for her nonfiction and published fiction, articles and essays in newspapers, magazines, and books.

Additional Fiction by Joanne

"Well-written, thematically rich. I fell in love with the characters. I didn’t want the pleasure to end."

—Barbara Kingsolver, Poisonwood Bible

"...the writer’s strengths—honesty, compassion and the ability to present such memorable scenes."

—Jill McCorkle, The New York Times Book Review

Praise for Joanne's Non-fiction

"PEN Journeys tells the story of the important organization PEN from the ground and through insightful eyes…and with narrative flair."

—Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran

"This invaluable book shows the range and depth of Liu Xiaobo's interests, concerns, and thoughts. It helps us know this remarkable man intimately."

—Ha Jin, author of Waiting, winner of the National Book Award

Latest Blog Post

The Far Side of the Desert

March 1, 2024

July, 2007 A Moorish king and queen bobbed momentarily above Samantha Waters’s scrambled eggs as if waiting to be fed. Outside the second-floor windows of the Hostal dos Reis Católicos, 12-foot puppets of kings and queens and devils and saints peered into the dining room then lurched away toward the square. Samantha leaned over the balustrade and filmed the festivities on the plaza below. “Let’s go, Monte,” she urged her sister who was hunched over the wooden table with a plate of pancakes. “We can get coffee on the plaza.” Outside, the smell of coffee and fresh almond cakes rose from pushcarts as pilgrims hurried past shaking tambourines, beating drums and filling the morning air with sound. Somewhere bagpipes played. The sun was already baking the cobblestones in the square where tables and chairs had been set up. “It’s too…