Chapter 4: ANNA – A Reunion Across Decades and a Choice

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Anna travels from Mount Aragats in 1991 to Philadelphia in 1975, using the address Valery gave her. She tracks Yulia, Lazar, Manya (now called Molly), and little Raisa to Wanamaker’s department store. When Anna finally approaches Yulia, the reunion is tense: Yulia is angry that Anna wants to use their meeting to enlist help in preventing the Chernobyl disaster rather than focusing on Molly’s immediate emotional crisis. Anna explains the reactor meltdown will happen in 1986 unless Yulia can reach the 1975 version of Anna. Yulia refuses, insisting her family needs help now. Anna runs out of time and is pulled back to Aragats with burned hands. There she discovers that Yulia has been sending letters and photographs for years, chronicling Molly’s deterioration and Raisa’s growing anger. The chapter then flashes back to 1938 Berlin, where Anna first met Yulia as a roommate. They form an intense bond, and Anna begins her work with Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner. A tram accident gives Anna the epiphany that nuclear fission can create ripples in space‑time, leading to her theory of time travel. Back in 1991, surrounded by Yulia’s letters, Anna resolves to change course and choose her family.

Key Events

Anna activates her time machine on Aragats and arrives in Philadelphia, 1975.
She barely avoids being hit by a car and then sees Lazar waving to a woman and child.
Anna follows Yulia, Molly, and Raisa onto a bus and into Wanamaker’s department store.
She finds Yulia alone near a children’s train; they embrace, but Yulia is initially frightened.
Anna explains her time machine and the need to prevent the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown.
Yulia refuses, insisting that Anna must help Molly and Raisa now; Anna is pulled back to Aragats.
Artush shows Anna a pile of letters from Yulia dating back to 1975, along with photos of a troubled Molly and a rebellious Raisa.
Flashback to 1938: Anna arrives in Berlin and meets her roommate Yulia, who immediately takes charge.
At Hahn’s lab, Anna meets Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner; they discuss radioactivity and the need to rise above hateful politics.
Yulia reveals her traumatic past: her family died in pogroms, and her sister Ruth was killed in a factory accident.
A tram accident gives Anna the insight that atomic fission could produce ripples in space‑time.
Back on Aragats, Anna decides to abandon her plan to stop Chernobyl and instead focus on saving her family.

Character Development

Anna: Begins the chapter driven by a scientific mission to prevent a future catastrophe. Her reunion with Yulia shakes her certainty. By the end, after reading the letters, she feels deep guilt and chooses to prioritize Molly and Raisa over her broader goal.
Yulia: In the 1938 flashback she is vivacious, manipulative, and hiding deep trauma. In 1975 she is older, more closed off, and fiercely protective of Molly. Her refusal to help Anna stems from years of struggling alone with her family’s needs.
Molly / Manya: Though seen only briefly, the letters and Yulia’s words reveal a fragile woman who has attempted to run away and returned to an abusive partner. Her unseen presence drives the chapter’s emotional weight.
Raisa: The child in 1975 becomes a sullen, angry young woman with a shaved head and scar by 1991, suggesting years of hardship.
Artush: His behavior and appearance have subtly changed because of Anna’s time travel, hinting at the consequences of altering the past.

Themes, Symbols, and Motifs

Ripples and Decay: The tram‑accident epiphany frames the entire chapter. A drop of blood rippling in a puddle mirrors the fission of an atom and the bending of time. Decay—both radioactive and familial—is a central metaphor.
Choice between Many and One: Anna must decide between saving hundreds of thousands (Chernobyl) and saving her own daughter and granddaughter. This moral tension recurs throughout the novel.
Identity and Survival: Yulia’s ability to mimic languages and dress is a survival tactic. Both women hide their Jewish identity; the chapter explores how identity can be performed or suppressed under threat.
Time as a Non‑Linear Fabric: Anna’s theory, born from the crash, treats time as bendable. The letters from Yulia prove the past can be altered, yet the present has already shifted in ways Anna did not anticipate.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 4 is the emotional and intellectual heart of Anna’s story. It confirms that her time machine works and reveals her primary motivation: to prevent the Chernobyl disaster. More importantly, it establishes the central conflict between global duty and family loyalty. The extended flashback to 1938 gives readers a vivid picture of Anna and Yulia’s initial bond, making the tension in 1975 all the more painful. Anna’s final decision to choose her family sets up the rest of the narrative’s direction, while the ripples‑in‑space‑time theory provides the scientific framework for the book’s fantastical element.

Study Questions and Answers

Why does Yulia react with anger when Anna asks for help with Chernobyl?
Yulia believes that Anna should focus on the immediate crisis of Molly’s emotional instability and Raisa’s wellbeing. She accuses Anna of abandoning her “flesh and blood” in favor of a distant, impersonal goal. Years of letters have shown Yulia’s desperate attempts to hold the family together without Anna’s support.
What scientific insight does Anna gain from the tram accident, and how does it lead to her theory of time travel?
While bleeding from a head wound, Anna watches her blood drop into a puddle and form ripples. She connects this to nuclear fission: an atom splitting releases energy that can create ripples in space‑time, similar to Einstein’s theories. This insight becomes the foundation of her amplifier‑based time machine.
How does the chapter’s structure—alternating between 1991 and 1938—affect the reader’s understanding of Anna’s final decision?
The 1938 scenes show the deep, trusting bond Anna and Yulia once shared, as well as Yulia’s tragic losses. The 1991 scenes reveal how that bond frayed when Anna prioritized work over family. Seeing both periods makes Anna’s guilt palpable and her final choice to “choose her family” feel earned and inevitable.