Chapter 3 Summary

The neighbors watch as Batsheva takes a walk each morning. These walks always take her to the house where Benjamin grew up. On the last day of July, Batsheva knocks on the door and asks the people who live there if she can look around the house. Marilynne, who lives in the house where Benjamin grew up, is struck by Batsheva's continued belief in God even after the death of her husband. When Marilynne asks Batsheva about her faith, Batsheva admits that she had been angry, but that she realized that God must have had a reason for allowing her and her daughter to escape the accident unharmed. Marilynne is more comfortable with the way that Batsheva describes her religion that the way that the other Jewish women have described their reasons behind their faith.

As they walk back home, Ayala suddenly sits...