Character Analysis
Leo's beloved, and Alma's namesake, A.M. (as we like to call her for short) is the person around whom both Leo's and Alma Singer's stories revolve. She was indeed in love with Leo as well, but fled to the United States during World War II while pregnant with Leo's baby. She wrote to her beloved, but never heard back from him, so presumably she thought Leo was killed by the Nazis. So she married her boss's son—one Mordecai Moritz—who won her over with some flowers when she stopped going to work. Alma and Mordecai had another son two years after they got married. By the time Leo shows up, Alma's been married for five years, though we suspect she never stopped loving our Leo. She passed away before this book took place.