Bread Givers is the story of Sara Smolinsky, a daughter of immigrants living with her large family in a slum in the Lower East Side of New York City. The novel follows her life in a traditionalist immigrant community to her exposure to and assimilation into mainstream American culture at college. She struggles with her divided identity, wavering between allegiance to the world and to her family. This dichotomy persists even after the deaths of her parents, with Sara desperately seeking a way to give back to her community.