Summary

Chapter 18 (88-92)

Olga wakes up in a strange position, her sheets wet with sweat, when Illaria comes to her room and announces that Gianni threw up in bed. Olga gets out and cleans up the mess, all the while contemplating the past, present, and future. She thinks to herself how she will never be happy now that she lost her husband. She also realizes that the reason Mario left her is because he went to a young girl, which she had been in the past. Olga envisions her present self as being inseparable from her role as mother, which she views with contempt. For Olga, her identity as a mother simply means performing dirty jobs and being nothing more than living food to be chewed up greedily by odorous children.

Chapter 19 (93-99)

Olga cleans up the the vomit and throws the rag in...