Book II, The Drowned City Summary

Naomi takes a cold shower to escape the heat and humidity and lies atop husband Ben, a devoted fan of the poetry of the late Jakob Beer. Ben's late parents had been liberated from a concentration camp four years before his birth. For them there is nothing ordinary in the world. Before age five, Ben is visited by an angel to point out beauty and to silence his nightmares about doors axed down. Reading Jakob's poetry helps him understand. Ben first meets Jakob and Michaela at Irena's birthday party. Ben recalls Jakob touching Michaela, sensually, as he listens to normally shy Naomi pour out both of their family histories. Jakob makes them feel clean. Ben and Naomi have been fighting over her care for his parents' grave; when Jakob defends this, she is is love-smitten...