Instead of entering the world crying, Don Jubilo was born with a smile on his face. He put his gift for hearing what was in people's hearts to good use in his job as a telegraph operator. But the telegraph lies abandoned, obsolete as a form of communication in the electronic age, and Don Jubilo lies mutely on his deathbed, estranged from his beloved wife, Lucha, who refuses to speak to him. What tragic event has come between two such sensuous, loving people, to cause their seemingly irreparable rift? What mystery lies behind the death of the son no-one ever mentions? Can their daughter Lluvia bring reconciliation to her parents before it is too late, by acting as an interpreter between them in Morse code, just as Jubilo used to do for other people?'SWIFT AS DESIRE' is Laura Esquivel's loving tribute to her father, who worked his own lifelong magic as a telegraph operator. In this magical, enchanting, bittersweet story, touched with graphic earthiness and wit, she shows us how keeping secrets will always lead to unhappiness, and how communication is the key to love.