The means of escape

Vi Goldmann and Ruthie Finn, tied by childhood bonds, discover their lives are irrevocably linked by blood and betrayal. Vi, raised by Jewish grandparents in an immigrant neighborhood, finds her life begins to unravel in 1928. Blessed with uncanny insight, she faces every challenge. Forced into adulthood as teenagers, burdens as well as secrets abound in both households. Vi has no idea why her parents left her. Her mother's whereabouts are unknown. Her father disappears in Europe, resettled in a concentration camp in the thirties on the brink of war. Ruthie, unable to cope with an imprisoned father, suffers from "nerves," which leads to lifelong depression. Filled with guilt, she leaves the Catholic church to marry a Protestant, who becomes almost a surrogate father. Friendship between the women deteriorates when they marry. Unusual circumstances reveal Vi's biological father was her next door neighbor, Bartholomew Finn.