Esquivel's third novel, "Tan veloz como el deseo" (Barcelona: Plaza y Janés, 2001), translated into English as "Swift as Desire" (Trans. Stephen A. Lytle. NY: Crown-Random, 2001), is set in Mexico City the apartment of Lluvia, a middle-aged divorcée caring for her debilitated father, Júbilo, a former telegraph operator born with a gift for understanding what people want to say rather than what they actually say. For the first time in this novel, according to critic Willingham, "Esquivel asks the reader to consider Mexico’s historical dialogue and enduring truths" in a contemporary setting in which the characters seek a meaningful and lasting reconciliation that rises above historical errors and misunderstandings