Returning to eleventh-century Troyes, France, to take over the family winemaking business, Talmudic scholar Salomon ben Isaac, a man without sons, secretly begins teaching the Talmud to his three daughters, including his eldest, Joheved, a young woman who is forced to choose between her love of learning and marital happiness when she becomes betrothed to Meir ben Samuel. Reprint. 35,000 first printing.