Desires Format: TradePaperback

A rediscovered Yiddish masterpiece exploring the complexities of love, desire, and betrayal in early 20th-century America.

In Celia Dropkin's only novel, Desires, follow the tumultuous marriage of Shirley and Sam Elkin as their lives are upended by infidelity and loss. Set against the backdrop of Jewish immigrant life, this gripping story delves into the hidden desires and social expectations that shape their choices.

As Shirley grapples with guilt and Sam confronts his own demons, their relationship unravels, revealing the raw and often contradictory nature of human emotions. Translated by Anita Norich, this rediscovered gem offers a poignant exploration of love, betrayal, and the search for redemption. Perfect for readers of literary fiction, Jewish literature, and stories that challenge conventional notions of marriage and family.

Celia (Tsilye) Dropkin, né e Tsipporah Levine (1887– 1956), was born in Babruysk in what is now Belarus. After attending Russian-language schools and teaching briefly in Warsaw, she went to Kiev in 1907. There she met the Hebrew writer Uri Nissan Gnessin and began to write poems in Russian, one of which Gnessin adapted into Hebrew and published without acknowledging its source. In 1912 she joined her husband in New York, where she continued to write in Russian but also began to publish Yiddish translations of her Russian poetry. Known primarily as a Yiddish poet, she was also a painter and wrote short stories and the novel Di tsvey gefiln (Two Feelings, translated here as Desires) in the 1930s. Her poetry has been both lauded and criticized for its sexual imagery and eroticism.