Summary

In Chapter 1, the novel opens with Elena telling the reader that she will eventually return to Naples, but that she will not immediately rekindle a close relationship with Lila. Lila disapproved strongly of Elena’s affair with Nino and challenged her choice, appealing to Elena’s role in the lives of her two daughters. Lila’s warnings go unheeded, as Elena feels that Lila has no right to criticize her parenting.

Chapter 2 continues the theme of Elena looking back on that pivotal place in her life, and Lila’s intermittent criticism of Elena’s parenting, and her defense of Elena’s daughters. She looks back from the end of her life, when she is trying to write about Lila and their friendship, noting that it is still difficult to define Lila without defining herself.

In Chapter 3, Elena returns to the end of...