What does the sea represent for the narrator in the novel, A Girl Returned?

The narrator lived in a city by the sea with her adoptive family before they abandoned her. Their home was opposite the beach and it is a place of many happy memories for her. These include days spent on the beach with her adoptive mother as well as the delicious meals of seafood that her mother would cook. The narrator returns to the sea with her siblings Adriana and Vincenzo, and it becomes a bonding place for them. It is in the water that she and Vincenzo first kiss. Later in the book, it is where she and Adriana connect and the narrator notes the importance of their relationship. The sea symbolizes the narrator's previous happy life, but it also symbolizes freedom and moments of happiness and meaningful connection in her new life.