Summary

In Chapter 9, “Next Year in Jerusalem”, first-person, present-tense narration continues. “Dicuka” (Dr. Eger) and Bela are married in 1946. Klara prepares the wedding meal and everyone at the festivities tries to be happy, but “Dicuka” feels that everyone is too haunted by memories of everyone who is absent to be truly happy. On her honeymoon, she discovers a powerful joy in sharing her body with Bela, and when she returns, discovers that she is pregnant.

The pregnancy passes quickly and healthily, with “Dicuka” gaining weight and moving into the expansive Eger family home, where she eats well and continues her pregnancy, in spite of a family doctor saying she is too frail to have a baby. Meanwhile, Klara makes plans to marry Csicsi, telling her sisters that she and her new husband are planning to move to...