The Postcard

Anne wonders if the postcard was meant for Myriam’s second husband, Yves; Lélia disagrees. Anne believes that anyone from Myriam’s youth would have addressed it to Myriam Rabinovitch or Myriam Picabia, not her second husband’s name, Bouveris. Lélia shares what she knows of her stepfather, though he was distant. Lélia says that within the time gap between 1942, when Myriam crosses the demarcation line in the trunk, to her birth in 1944, she knows nothing of Myriam’s life. Anne asks if, when she finds the author of the postcard, she should tell Lélia. Lélia replies that it’s up to her.

Myriam’s story resumes at the night she arrives at the chateau across the demarcation line in 1942, whisked away by the Picabias. Her husband, Vicente, says he talked to Ephraïm and Emma, and everyone is fine. This is a lie. In Marseille, people are free, and there is no rationing. They drink beer at a cafe, dine, and shop. A local paper calls Marseille, “the new Jerusalem of the Mediterranean” (335).

Myriam spends three months in Marseille, waiting for news of her family, drinking, and having nightmares. Jeanine tells them that the young French woman who gave them the false documents was arrested and gang raped.