Adolescence has nothing to do with it: she's getting the face of Vittoria.
-- Andrea (Part I: Chapter 1)

Importance: When Giovanna is 13, she overhears her father saying this to her mother, and begins panicking. She knows her father and mother think her Aunt Vittoria is an ugly and vulgar woman, and believes the comparison means their love for her is fading. Andrea's words act as the narrative's inciting event, and initiate Giovanna's adolescent angst about her poor appearance and character.

It gave me a sense of estrangement that provoked suffering mixed incongruously with satisfaction.
-- Narrator (Part I: Chapter 10)

Importance: Shortly before visiting her aunt for the first time, Giovanna is overcome with an unexpected desire to be close with her father. His unfamiliar smell, however, leaves her feeling pleasantly estranged from him. In this moment, she begins feeling empowered by the possibility of detaching herself from Andrea. Shortly thereafter, Giovanna begins clinging to Vittoria, as an act of defiance against her...