Rita Baker

Born of Love Rita Baker

In the early 1900s, in Europe, there is scorn and stigma when young lovers marry out of their religion. Tova is a child of such love. At the tender age of thirteen, when she discovers she is Jewish on her mother's side, Tova is devastated. Tova is devastated again, when, after years of preparing to leave Poland with her family for America, free of the problems of a mixed marriage, her parents are run down and killed by a runaway horse and cart. Her spirit bent but not broken, Tova decides to make the journey on her own. She sneaks aboard a cargo ship seeking a fresh start, freedom, and opportunity. But later, fearful of the brutish captain, and the prospect of being rejected at Ellis Island, Tova jumps into the sea. Tova nearly drowns, but two unlikely friends out sailing rescue her and smuggle her into the country. With the help of the two friends and their families, one Irish Catholic and the other Jewish Polish, Tova beings her life as an illegal immigrant and starts to seek a path to citizenship. Both men are attracted to Tova, but romance is not the "opportunity" she is looking for. Instead, Tova tries to hold on to her hopes and her ambition, and rise above her fears, while she deals with new ways of thinking and many obstacles. As WWI approaches, Tova fights a war inside herself. She attempts to come to grips with who she is. Eventually, Tova grows from an uncertain and timid young girl into a beautiful intelligent, courageous, and successful adult--and finally falls in love.