Desert Bloom

The nuclear family meets the atomic age.

A melancholic coming-of-age memory piece set against 1950s atomic testing, balancing family trauma with first love and the looming shadow of nuclear anxiety.

The story involves Rose Chismore's youth. She flashes back and remembers her coming-of-age. Her recollections are sometimes less than sweet, particularly those of her troubled and alcoholic step-father. Her memories of Robin, her first-love, are much happier and she also recalls her colorful Aunt Starr -- who's visit is fun but also detrimental to her family's health. The setting of 1950s Las Vegas' bomb testing is increasingly significant to the development of the story.