Chapter 17 and 18 Summary

An announcement is made at school that there will be a declamation contest. Esther decides to sign up, despite the fact that she is a political exile accused of being a capitalist. Their teacher Raisa gives them a list of suitable choices, including Pushkin's Eugene Onegin. This particular poem is a favorite of Esther's and she wants to perform it in front of everyone. She practices continuously and makes everyone in her life listen to her as she practices over and over again.

Unfortunately, Yosif's wife returns home far earlier than predicted. They are forced to move again, this time in with a young couple named Natasha and Nikolay. Their baby becomes Esther's greatest person to practice with. By now it is August and the small new hut feels suffocating, so Esther will often awake early to escape outside into the...