Saul & Gertie Gold are the parents of 4 children, Varya, Daniel, Karla & Simon. Saul is a tailor of great reputation. Simon is the youngest child and has more to do with his father's business than the other children. When Saul passes away, it is assumed that Simon will carry it on.
The children sneak away one day to visit a psychic who they believe can tell them the actual date of their deaths. When they reach the woman's apartment on Hester Street, each child is allowed entry alone. So they are given the dates without anyone else knowing what they have been told.
We then proceed to get to know each child for a short period before their endings. Simon and Karla decide that they do no want to stay where they are and leave for California. While Simon is only 16, he already knows that he is attracted to men. Being in California opens that up for him, as it is during the late 70's, early 80's. Karla is the magic woman, taking points from her grandmother, who was not talked much about at home. She is very into magic and doing her grandmother's famous rope trick involving using her teeth to hang on to ropes. Daniel is a medical person. He works for the military and feels strongly about that. Varya is a scientist and has her own quirks.
I kind of didn't like that you only got to really know each character for a very short period of time before their demise. The characters were all very likeable in their own sense. You definitely fell in love with each, no matter what their particular quirks were.
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