Summary

In Chapter 12, set in June of 1973, when Joanna first saw Paola in her kitchen, cooking, she was reminded of her mother. Paola introduced herself as well as her daughter, Angelina, and granddaughter, Marcella. Joanna had to stop herself from thinking of her own past when she saw the baby. Paola invited Joanna to join them for dinner and told Joanna that she would teach her to cook the Italian way if Joanna wanted. When Paola learned that Joanna’s mother had died when she was 11, Paola’s hug made Joanna cry.

Later, when Joanna asked Paola about her father, Paola said that she was not in the village during the war. She had heard of Sofia, though. The people had said she had left the village and left behind her young son.

Chapter 13 returns to 1944. Sofia told Hugo that a woman had asked...