My Heart – A Novel of Love

“I am wildly in love with someone, but I’ll say no more about it. That way it could always be […] you.”

First published in 1912, My Heart is more than the chronicle of a marriage in crisis: it is a daring work of self-invention and a vivid portrait of a vanished world. Writing from the heart of Berlin’s avant-garde at the famed Café des Westens, Else Lasker-Schüler addresses her husband, Herwarth Walden, editor of the groundbreaking journal Der Sturm. Through a cascade of letters and imagined alter egos—Tino of Baghdad, the Prince of Thebes—she confesses her infidelities while transforming private turmoil into art, echoing the cultural upheaval that foreshadowed the First World War.

Populated by a brilliant constellation of artists—Karl Kraus, Alfred Döblin, Oskar Kokoschka, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Emil Nolde, and Arnold Schönberg— My Heart offers readers an intimate glimpse into the vibrant intellectual and artistic ferment of Expressionist Berlin.

Else Lasker-Schüler (1869–1945) is today recognized as one of Germany’s most original modern writers. A poet, playwright, and prose stylist, she was the foremost female voice of Expressionism and renowned for her unconventional lifestyle. Awarded the Kleist Prize in 1932, she fled Nazi Germany soon after, living in Switzerland, Egypt, and Palestine before settling in Jerusalem, where she remained until her death in 1945.

This landmark English edition—appearing for the first time over a century after its original publication—includes an introduction by Professor Jakob Hessing of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a glossary of names and terms. My Heart is not only a key document of Expressionist Berlin but also a timeless exploration of love, betrayal, and the power of art to remake life.