Dearest Anne: A Tale of Impossible Love

"I read the book with wonder and emotion. The love between Michaela and Rivi is depicted precisely and delicately. . . . It's beautiful."--Amos Oz

"More than anything else, the book is a temple of love to the imaginary, and to literature as an option for deep and vigorous living."--Ya'ara Muki, Time Out

Written by best-selling Israeli author Judith Katzir, Dearest Anne is a stirring record of an artist's coming-of-age during the 1970s and the story of a hidden, erotic love affair between a teenaged girl and her married teacher, Michaela.

After reading Anne Frank's diary, young Rivi starts a series of writing notebooks that document the angst of growing up in rural Israel. The entries reveal how her crush on her literature teacher develops into a poignant and turbulent love affair that lasts for years before its scandalous end.

Decades later, the grown Rivi, now a mother, wife, and established author, comes to terms with the forbidden love that shaped her future.

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As Rivi Shenhar comes of age in mid-1970s Israel, social change is in the air and peace talks between Israel and Egypt are in the works. After divorce shatters her family, Rivi is raised by her neglectful mother and helps care for her two younger brothers. She documents her feelings of abandonment and longing in a diary addressed to Anne Frank--a conceit that actually works--and develops a crush on her vibrant, soon-to-be-married literature teacher, a woman named Michaela Berg. To Rivi's amazement, Michaela reciprocates. Katzir (Matisse Has the Sun in His Belly) takes pains to paint their relationship as tender, loving and often erotic, one that provides desperately needed intimacy for both. She also draws parallels between Rivi and Anne Frank: difficulty with their mothers, a need for privacy and a budding interest in sexuality. The power of unconditional love fuels Rivi's development into a confident young woman, a development Katzir telescopes nicely in the book's finale. (June)

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• Published by

  The Feminist Press

• Publish Date

  April 30, 2008 

• Print ISBN

  155861575X

• eBook ISBN

  9781558616370

• Imprint

  The Feminist Press

• Filesize

  447.27 KB

• Number of Print Pages*

  240

* Number of eBook pages may differ. Click here for more information.