Summary

Chapter 1 (pages 9-13)

Olga, a middle-aged mother of two children, is narrating the time of her life that begins one morning when her husband, Mario, announces he is leaving. On this day, and the days that follow, Olga does not believe Mario, because he does not take any of his things. Another reason she feels that Mario will be back is because she recalls other occasions when Mario left her—once, when they six months into dating, and another time when he had been having an affair with a 15-year-old girl named Carla, who was the daughter of a widow and colleague of Mario’s. This time when he leaves, Mario uses the phrase “sudden absence of sense” (10) to account for his abandonment. A few nights after Mario’s departure Olga gets up to make herself a tea and she sees Corrano, her...