Summary

In Chapter 103, Elena is frozen with the fear of Nino comparing her to his wife. She catalogues her physical flaws and worries that his wife will top them all. She fusses all afternoon about what to wear to dinner with the Sarratores and constantly asks Pietro for his opinion, tempted to send him and the girls alone. In the end, she wears what she can and goes, taking with her the words she’d written on feminism.

In Chapter 104, the two families meet for dinner, and Elena immediately feels better about herself. Nino’s wife, while pretty, is young and uneducated and showy, and Elena by comparison feels classier and smarter. She observes the couple and surmises that Nino feels affectionately towards Eleonora but is not deeply moved by her. He asks Elena about her writing, again causing a skirmish between her and...