Set in a rich and complicated culture reflected in its cuisine, hospitality, and breathtaking landscapes, Desiderium weaves together the stories of three generations of Albanian women reaching for their deepest desires amid heartbreak, the quest for revenge, and war. 

Mira Zeka is a grieving daughter seeking vengeance and national independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1911.  A decision she makes for her family will change her heart more than she could have imagined.  

Valentina Muskaj, nicknamed Val, trades her schoolteacher duties to become a partisan guerrilla during World War II.  To return to the life she had, in a homeland rid of the Axis Powers, she will endure anything, including injury and unspeakable loss. 

Dita Arbani, a history museum curator, is falling in love with the tales of Albania’s past while the modern world rushes ahead.  Her grandmother’s vague hint about secret gold sends Dita on a mission, even while other parts of her life unravel.

Desiderium’s prose is as lyrical as Albania’s rivers and seas, the characters as fierce as the mountains surrounding them.  Through their eyes, we see that the struggles, passions, and triumphs of the past may not be as deeply buried as we think.