| The First Desire Contributor(s): Reisman, Nancy (Author) |
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ISBN: 1400077990 ISBN-13: 9781400077991 Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group OUR PRICE: $16.10 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 2005 Annotation: 1929. Buffalo, New York. A beautiful July day, the kind one waits for through the long, cold winters. Sadie Feldstein, nee Cohen, looks out her window at the unexpected sight of her brother, Irving. His news is even more unexpected, and unsettling: their elder sister, Goldie, has vanished without a trace. With Goldie's disappearance as the catalyst, The First Desire takes us deep into the life of the Cohen family and an American city, from the Great Depression to the years immediately following World War II. The story of the Cohens is seamlessly told from the various perspectives of siblings Sadie, Jo, Goldie, and Irving--each of whose worlds is upended over the course of the novel, the smooth veneer of their lives giving way to the vulnerabilities and secrets they've managed to keep hidden--and through the eyes of Lillian, the beautiful woman their father, Abe, took as a lover as his wife was dying. But while Abe's affair with Lillian stuns his children, they are even more shocked by his cold anger in the wake of Goldie's disappearance. The First Desire is a book of great emotional power that brings to life the weave of love, grief, tradition, and desire that binds a family together, even through the tumultuous times that threaten to tear it apart. "From the Hardcover edition. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Sagas - Fiction | Family Life - General - Fiction | Jewish |
| Dewey: FIC |
| Physical Information: 0.7" H x 5.3" W x 7.98" (0.53 lbs) 320 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1900-1949 - Cultural Region - Mid-Atlantic - Cultural Region - Northeast U.S. - Geographic Orientation - New York - Locality - Buffalo-Niagra Falls, N.Y. - Topical - Family |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: When Sadie looks out her window and sees her bother standing on the front lawn she knows he can't bring good news. Fidgeting over coffee with sugar and cream he explains: Their sister is gone. Three days earlier Goldie left to go shopping and she has not returned. With Goldie's disappearance as the catalyst, The First Desire takes us deep into the life of the Cohen family and Buffalo, New York, from the Great Depression to the years immediately following World War II. Shifting perspectives from siblings Sadie, Jo, Goldie, and Irving we learn of the secrets they have managed to keep hidden--and of Lillian, the beautiful woman their father took as a lover while his wife was dying. In this astonishing novel Reisman brings to life the love, grief, and desires that ultimately bind one family together. |