Summary

In 1985, Ava asks her grandmother, Addie Baum, how Addie came to be the woman she is as part of an interview for acceptance into an unidentified program. Addie has five grandchildren, including Ava, who have all done amazing things with their lives, from teaching to social work to medicine. Each of Ava’s relatives have been named after deceased relatives from Addie’s past. For example, Addie’s daughter, Clara, is named after Addie’s older sister, Celia.

Here, the novel jumps back in time from 1985 to 1900.

Ava’s parents Mameh and Papa, and two older sisters, Betty and Celia, emigrate from Russia to Boston, and in 1900, Addie is born. Addie is raised in the North End in a cramped apartment. By 1915, Papa is working in a belt factory, and Celia is working in a shirtwaist factory. Betty has moved out to Mamah...