Summary and Analysis

In "Relics of Summer," Frances relates to the reader how hot and dry summers in Tuscany can be so much like her childhood summers in Georgia. Not a religious woman, Frances began reading about saints in martyrs one summer in Italy due to the history contained in those stories rather than the religious connection. The stories remind Frances of a childhood experience of visiting odd sites, including a boa constrictor wrapped around a woman's neck. In Italy, Frances enjoyed visiting the churches, admiring the architecture and the sense of history each contained. Frances bought a shrine to the Virgin Mother, not because of the religious connection but because of the history it offered, the connection to the past that seemed to come from every Italian custom. In "Solleone," Frances relates to the reader the many...