The First Desire

When Sadie sees her brother Irving nervously shifting about on her front lawn, she knows that something’s wrong. Goldie, their eldest sister, has vanished without a trace, leaving everyone stunned. What begins as a family mystery becomes something deeper still: a dazzling portrait of the Cohen family and a moving story of American small-city life, spanning years from 1929 to late 1940s. Told in a seamless wave of perspectives, the story documents the lives of the reliable and seemingly invulnerable Sadie, her over-sexed sister Joe, and their brother Irving, whose secrets – and fears – cause him to court disaster.