Summary

On January 17, Valeria continues to vocalize her frustrations with Mirella, who asked for a house key again. Her mother had said that she and Mirella were the same, but the narrator contests the comparison. When she was twenty, she would not have dared to be so bold. The following day, Michele receives word that he will be promoted. Valeria suggests that they spend some of the money on gifts for Mirella because she “is going through a difficult moment, one of those periods when well-off families send their daughters on trips abroad” (54). She does not tell Michele about the pigskin bag she found in their daughter’s room, a gift from a man fifteen years her senior.

Several days later, Valeria feels ashamed when a visitor at the office looks at her. He stares “as if he [has] suddenly seen a pleasing...