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Back The Third Daughter Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. Prologue
  5. Part I
  6. Chapter One
  7. Chapter Two
  8. Chapter Three
  9. Chapter Four
  10. Chapter Five
  11. Chapter Six
  12. Chapter Seven
  13. Chapter Eight
  14. Chapter Nine
  15. Chapter Ten
  16. Chapter Eleven
  17. Chapter Twelve
  18. Chapter Thirteen
  19. Chapter Fourteen
  20. Chapter Fifteen
  21. Chapter Sixteen
  22. Chapter Seventeen
  23. Chapter Eighteen
  24. Chapter Nineteen
  25. Chapter Twenty
  26. Chapter Twenty-One
  27. Part II
  28. Chapter Twenty-Two
  29. Chapter Twenty-Three
  30. Chapter Twenty-Four
  31. Chapter Twenty-Five
  32. Chapter Twenty-Six
  33. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  34. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  35. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-One
  38. Chapter Thirty-Two
  39. Chapter Thirty-Three
  40. Chapter Thirty-Four
  41. Part III
  42. Chapter Thirty-Five
  43. Chapter Thirty-Six
  44. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  45. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  46. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  47. Chapter Forty
  48. Chapter Forty-One
  49. Chapter Forty-Two
  50. Chapter Forty-Three
  51. Chapter Forty-Four
  52. Chapter Forty-Five
  53. Chapter Forty-Six
  54. Chapter Forty-Seven
  55. Chapter Forty-Eight
  56. Epilogue
  57. Author’s Note
  58. Acknowledgments
  59. Glossary
  60. P.S. Insights, Interviews & More . . .*
  61. About the Author
  62. Buenos Aires, 1996
  63. About the Book
  64. Ezrat Nashim Poster
  65. Reading Group Guide
  66. Praise
  67. Also by Talia Carner
  68. About the Publisher
  1. In her hours of despair, Batya thinks about and eventually attempts suicide. What prevents her or pulls her back? At what points in the story do you think she would say the life she is living is worth the trauma she has suffered? At what points would she not?
  2. Some “sisters” at the brothel enjoy what this way of life gives them. They prefer it to the alternative of laboring in a sweatshop or a field, or living in the squalor of the shtetl. Discuss the options open to women at the time—and today.
  3. While fleeing a pogrom, fourteen-year-old Batya feels responsible for her parents’ well-being. Discuss her life decisions in light of her older sisters’ choices. Is her love for her parents a burden or a gift?
  4. Discuss the role faith plays in the book for each group of people: Batya and her “sisters”; Batya’s family in Russia; the pimps and patrons of Zwi Migdal; the Jewish population of Buenos Aires. To what practices does each group adhere? What are the limitations and/or hypocrisies of each group?
  5. Batya’s mother is constantly on Batya’s mind. How does Batya’s perception of her mother change as she grows older? How does it change after her mother’s death? How did her mother’s presence influence Batya’s decisions?
  6. Both Nettie and Rochel, two of Batya’s closest friends, undergo dramatic yet very different transformations. Discuss each one’s background, character, and options. Why did each make the choices she made?
  7. Batya tries to save money in order to bring her family to Argentina from Russia. Discuss the economic structure of the brothel: What are the financial incentives offered to Batya, and in what ways do those incentives ultimately keep her in bondage?
  8. Toward the end of the book, Batya finds herself having to choose between Ulmann and Sergio. What are the risks and rewards of each? Whom did you think Batya should choose? Did you find yourself changing your mind at different points in the story?
  9. How complicit was the Argentine government in the trafficking of women? How did Zwi Migdal exploit cultural and legal practices to grow its business? And how was it able to hold on to power, even against a rising backlash?
  10. The methods and practices used by Moskowitz and other pimps in the book are still being used today. How and why are they so effective? image

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