We can see now that the book belongs to the side of the 1930s that still believed in the sacredness of literature, whether or not it presumed to change the world.
Plot Summary
Prologue
The year is 1907, a year "destined to bring the greatest number of immigrants to the shores of the United States." On a ferry from Ellis Island to Manhattan, a newly arrived woman and her son travel with her husband, who has already been living in America, working and preparing the home for his family's arrival. They are Jewish and speak to each other in Yiddish. The woman apologizes to her husband, revealing that she could not recognize him when she first saw him at Ellis Island. She tells him that he looks different from when she last saw him in Europe: "Then here in the new land is the same old poverty. You've gone without food. I can see it. You've changed."
The husband is also upset at his wife for not telling the officials that their son is only seventeen months old, which would have saved half the fare they had to pay.
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