Summary

The next part of the book is titled Act 2, Moscow. In Chapter 18, it takes a moment for Sasha to find her name among the 25 students admitted to the Vakhtangov Drama School. She sends a telegram home, saying only “Accepted” and “Kisses” before signing her name. She imagines Galya, torn between pride and anger at the news as word spreads to the neighbors. “Grandma will smile and Grandpa will glare” (106). She has trouble imagining Andrei. She feels guilty about leaving him. She lives in a dorm room she shares with two girls, Sveta and Lara. They work all day in the fields to pay for their education. Sveta has ideas, including taking food back to their rooms and sewing large pockets to carry notes for tests in every class except dance, voice, and acting classes. They have yet to speak in the acting class...