A captivating collection of essays, Desire delves headfirst into its subject matter and explores the complexity of desire with essays about the things that women want, crave, lust after, and covet.

Within the pages of Desire, women tackle difficult and taboo subjects—from Debra Magpie Earling’s desire to hurt someone to New York Times writer S. S. Fair’s less than diminishing sensual and sexual desire, despite her increasing age, and Julia Serano’s strong emotional impulse to be a woman before she decided to transition from male to female.

Many of these essayists examine the feelings and experiences that surround the things they want but can’t—or shouldn’t—have. Desire makes the private public and illuminates the rich and varied yearnings women so often keep secret.