Dearest Anne: A Tale of Impossible Love (Jewish Women Writers) (original 2003; edition 2008)

“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.

Judith Katzir was born in Haifa, Israel, in 1963. Her previous works include Inland Lighthouses, Closing the Sea (published under the name Yehudit Katzir), and Matisse Has the Sun in His Belly, for which she received the Book Publishers Association’s Platinum and Gold Book Prizes, the Prime Minister’s Prize, and the French WIZO Prize.

Dalya Bilu is a well-known translator of Hebrew literature. She has been awarded the Israel Culture and Education Ministry Prize for Translation.