Summary

Chapter 54 features Sofya’s narrative in 1920. In the spring of 1919, Luba and Sofya brought Max to America to live with Eliza at Gin Lane. Sofya feels safe in America but “dark thoughts of Afon’s horrible death bubbled up” in her mind and she misses home (407). She started a garden business and saved up money in the summer to rent a place for herself, Max, and Luba.

In the fall of 1920, Caroline and Luba arrange a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden for 780 orphaned Russian children who had been sent to New York City by the Red Cross during the revolution. Max, Sofya, and Luba are in the process of changing their names, due to the continued threat of Bolshevism and “the rising tide of Communism” (409). Luba chooses the name Lyra for herself, and Sofya choose Serge for her son. Sofya and...