Kantika

Lika dies, leaving behind her husband, Sam Levy, and her daughter, Luna. Four years later, Corinne suggests that Rebecca marry Sam in Cuba so that she can gain entrance to America. This arrangement would make it easier for the rest of the family to relocate from Spain to America, a move that seems wise given how Jewish people’s safety in Europe feels increasingly precarious.

Rebecca now owns her own atelier and employs five women. When she returns home, she learns that Alberto asked Corinne to help Rebecca find “a friend, a companion for [her] days” (145). He worries about his grandsons. David is seven, but he isn’t in school, because his brief experience at the Catholic charity school traumatized him. Sultana encourages Rebecca to meet Sam and tells her that she can always come back to Barcelona if she decides against the match for any reason. That night, Sultana sings to Rebecca and washes her hair.

Rebecca, who is now 32, sells her atelier and sails to Cuba. The voyage is restful because she doesn’t have to work, care for her children, or look after her parents for the first time in years. Sam is so quiet when they first meet that Rebecca wonders if she’s being sold another “batch of damaged goods” (149).