Rose Lieber

Rose Lieber is soon to be married to Volodya Vlashkin. The entire story is focused on Rose’s adult life as she chronicles it to her niece, Lillie. Rose is an overweight woman who comes from an orthodox Jewish family. In her young adulthood, Rose worked for a theater company as a ticket seller, and this is where she meets Volodya Vlashkin. Rose becomes enamored with Vlashkin, and she dedicates her life to him until she learns that he has a wife. Rose tells Lillie stories about her past romantic experiences because she hopes to prevent Lillie from making some of the same mistakes she has made.

Rose’s character is entrenched in the gender stereotypes that pervade the era in which the story is set. This is evident through scenes in which she ignores blatantly demeaning diminutives attributed to her by other characters. For example, despite...