The kid in the second row

In his school picture Benjamin is the kid in the second row, off to one side. Now in his twenties, his education is interrupted by the death of his parents. He is determined to complete his education, to accomplish something to get him out of the second row. That is his purpose for coming to America, where his widowed aunt Hannah is offering encouragement and support. He is a refugee from Nazi Germany, arriving with his family in Palestine during the Arab riots of 1936. He is a past soldier and fighter in the Israel War of Independence, and carries with him the idealism that he grew up with. Benjamin arrives in Times Square just as the US economy of the 1950s starts to boom. Hannah, a Bronx resident fifteen years his senior, introduces him to Radio City, South Pacific, the subway, and the supermarket. Each fills a void in the other's life. They fall in love. Haunted by loneliness, they cling to each other and wrestle with age differences and different stages of their lives. Their love survives while he pursues a bachelor's degree in Connecticut, where her sister lives. Their bond weakens as he is drawn into the 1950s culture of small town America, but it does not break. When he goes to graduate school in Maryland their relationship unravels. Hanna, the product of a wealthy upper Manhattan east side family has a privileged upbringing, cannot relate to his life on a teaching assistantship surrounded by people his age. She seeks a new start in far away Jerusalem, where she is a volunteer at Hadassah hospital and eventually marries a doctor. Benjamin and a fellow graduate student Karen form a loving relationship. She craves sunshine and moves to Florida, and he moves north in pursuit of an academic career. Their goals diverge but their emotional pull brings them together from time to time. Conflicts between their preferred lifestyles and professional goals keep causing them distress but parting becomes more difficult after times together. After a few years of separation, Benjamin meets Hannah and her husband. He realizes that he is in love with Karen and that he wants her in his life. She is waiting for this, and their love brings them together in marriage.