Chapters 1, 2 and 3 Summary

Eleven Minutes is the story of a young girl named Maria who leaves her Brazilian home to go to Geneva, Switzerland, in hopes of great adventure and great love. Her situation does not prove to be what she had hoped, and she pursues a career in prostitution in order to make money quickly to return home. During her time in Switzerland, Maria experiences pain, pleasure, and love, and must decide the correct path for her life.

The story opens with the author introducing a prostitute named Maria, who is like all prostitutes in that she is born innocent and eventually develops dreams of being rescued from her life by a man, getting married, having two children, and living in a lovely home. Maria lives in a small town in Brazil with her traveling salesman father and seamstress mother. In Maria's hometown...