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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

The sun was too bright. Batya shielded her eyes, then shuffled around a neatly coiled rope. Just as she reached the first stair, she heard a yelp from the sailor. She turned to see his head and torso emerge from the top of the ladder at the same time as Shayna hurled herself from the balcony. Flailing arms and legs, she hit the water with a splash, then disappeared.

“No!” Batya screamed, and rushed to the railing.

In one push of arms and shoulders, the sailor hoisted himself off the ladder and onto the deck. He grabbed Batya from behind as her eyes searched the water, hoping for Shayna’s head to rise. His arm gripped her neck, almost choking her, and pinned her spine to his chest. His knee pressed into her as he pushed her toward the stairs.

“No!” Batya screamed again. But Shayna was no more.

Chapter Fourteen

The cabin Batya was led to was nothing like the first. Lined in rough-hewn wood, the tiny space contained two narrow cots fixed into the wall, one above the other like shelves, a thin mattress and a sheet on top of each. There was no ladder to reach the top cot, and she was too weak to raise herself onto it.

On a hook she found one of her muslin slips but none of her dresses, and no shoes. In spite of the warmth of the cabin, Batya wrapped herself in the frayed sheet the sailor had given her, now dry and caked with salt, and sat on the bottom cot, rocking herself. How could she face Moskowitz’s sister looking as she did, as stained with shame as she was? She wished she had followed Shayna into the water.

A pail stood in the corner, containing cloudy water. Batya lowered her head into the pail. The water seeped into her hair roots, and the image of Shayna jumping to her death gave Batya courage. She dunked her head fully and held her breath. Water filled her nostrils and bubbled into hidden paths behind her forehead, pressing. She fought the urge to breathe, but her body—or God—overpowered her and yanked her head out of the bucket. Sputtering water, she caught air. She tried again. Once more, her body betrayed her and pulled free, gasping for air.