Summary

Ester observes that “though London’s Jews might go unremarked one by one, together they were recognizable” (250). Grouped together outside the synagogue, she questions whether they are safe. Ester’s days are consumed with housework which she describes as “a tide … sliding her this way and that as she fought with breath and limb to stay afloat” (251). Her scholarship has begun to fade into memories: “verses that had once played in her mind now vanished – a whorl of words, dipping and spinning, gone” (251).

After the death of Catherine da Costa Mendes, Diego “seemed to take no note of his daughter,” though Mary is his only child (252). Women outside the synagogue discuss Jewish daughters attending the theater: “let the Christians throw their souls to the dung heap with such entertainment” (253). Two days later, Ester accompanies Mary to the theater and shares Catherine’s request to...