Paris, France

The majority of The Postcard is set in Paris, France across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. After Ephraïm and Emma’s economic situation deteriorates in Palestine, the couple decides to move their family to Paris. In the European capital, the Rabinovitch children excel in school and Ephraïm forms an engineering company. When Nachman suggests that France is as dangerous as Russia, Ephraïm balks at his father. However, when the Germans begin the occupation, they enact the numerus clausus, which prohibits anyone of Jewish heritage from holding public office, owning a business, or teaching. After Jacques and Noémie are arrested, Myriam bikes back to Paris but she has to be smuggled out of the city the next day. In the narrative present, Anne is raising her daughter in Paris and thinks about Myriam biking through the Zone.

Russia

The Rabinovitch family lives in Russia...