Summary

In the beginning of Chapter 109, Elena grows very ill with the flu. She manages to call home and report that she cannot come home, and eventually her mother shows up in Pisa with food and means to nurse her back to health. It is a long day, with Mrs. Greco yelling and limping and cooking and banging and gossiping about the neighborhood, her chief aim to raise Elena above all of the neighborhood girls, Lila in particular. It is almost as if her mother came to ensure Elena's health so she would not die and remove her position as the girl in the neighborhood who got out, who made it.

In Chapter 110, Elena recounts what her mother tells her about Lila. Apparently, Ada and Gigliola had gone to dinner with Michele and Antonio, and during the outing, Gigliola tries to help Ada find...