Chapter 18 Summary

La Luna and Harriet talk, with La Luna telling Harriet about her past. She puts music on the gramophone to cover the sound of her voice as she speaks to Harriet. She explains that she had a repressed childhood in a patriarchal household. She whispers to Harriet about her Catholic education and of her arranged marriage as a young girl. Other than very infrequent, passionless sex once her husband realized she was barren, La Luna could only reject herself for her inability to give life. She spoke of the confusion she felt, attempting to understand the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

La Luna told Harriet that her husband was a wealthy man. Every Saturday, peasants would line up outside the house to either receive wages or pay back loans. One Saturday as she went from the house to church for confession, she saw...