Summary

A female translator wanted to become a different person. She had a good life but thought she was flawed in some way. She gave away almost all of her possessions and went to live in a city where she didn’t know anyone and didn’t know the language. She took with her only a minimum of clothing. One article was a black sweater.

One day as she stood under the cornice of a building waiting for a rain shower to stop, she noticed women going into a building across the street. She decided to follow them. She walked up the stairs with the other women. They were greeted by a thin woman who invited them inside. The room contained food, couches, a three-way mirror and black clothes hanging on a rack. The woman who owned the apartment had designed the clothes.

The...