Summary

The narrative then transitions to 1934. The Helds, the Elekeses, and the Birós all live as neighbors on Katalin Street. The Helds moved there just a few years earlier, but already the families are all good friends with one another. Mr. Held and Mr. Biró were already friends because they had fought together in the Great War, which is why the Helds moved next to the Birós. When Henriette first met Irén and Blanka, she saw Blanka as far more restless and energetic than Irén. The day that the Helds moved in, the adults of the three families had drinks together while Henriette, Irén, Blanka, and Biró played together. The narrative then shifts from a third-person narrator to Irén narrating retrospectively from the perspective of decades later. Young Irén recognizes her parents as quite different in personality, her...