Summary

“Nine” is written from the perspective of a nine-year-old girl named Valentine. Her mother, Gwen, has recently begun dating Carlo, who teaches Italian at the nearby college. Carlo has a ten-year-old son named Jake. Carlo and Jake spend the night at Gwen and Valentine’s house, and in the morning, Carlo sends the kids to the nearby store to buy breakfast. Later, Gwen speaks openly to Valentine about Gwen and Carlo’s mutual sexual attraction. Valentine thinks about her parents’ divorce, followed by her father moving to California. Soon, Carlo is fired from his job after he held a dinner for students; one student left the dinner drunk, drove away in her car, and had a nonfatal car accident. At first, Carlo lies to Gwen that he was fired for giving low grades, but then Gwen reads about the accident in...