Barren Island

Set against the vivid backdrop of Barren Island in New York's Jamaica Bay, this story follows Marta Eisenstein Lane on her 18th birthday as it intertwines her personal memory with the history of a factory community that processed animal remains in the early 20th century. Through the experiences of diverse immigrant families and the social upheavals of the 1930s—including labor struggles, the New Deal, and international tensions—the narrative explores themes of remembrance and the evolving moral landscape of a changing world.