This novel should come with an X rating

Book Review Rosenfeld By Maya Kessler Avid Reader: 400 pages, $28.99 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores. The advance reader’s edition of Israeli writer Maya Kessler’s debut novel, “Rosenfeld,” arrived on my doorstep with a warning label. From the moment 36-year-old aspiring filmmaker Noa lays eyes on Teddy — the “Rosenfeld” of the title — she’s in unrelenting lust. The 55-year-old CEO might objectively be “fat,” “despicable” and “ugly,” but in Noa’s view his flaws make for a fertile erogenous zone. Noa is as unquenchable in her need for Teddy’s reassurance as she is for him to want her carnally: “We move to the bed … maybe we’re not as angry anymore, and I’m trying to get a promise out of him, a declaration, or I don’t know what, but I can’t get him to say the words I’m looking for.” I looked at this younger woman and thought: Get a grip!