Summary

Chapter 1. Joan Foster is sunning herself on the patio in a rented flat in Terremoto, Italy. Initially, she is carefree and happy. She begins to reflect on her life—and the fact that she is alive, but everyone she knows thinks that she is dead. She had been to this flat before, only a year prior with her husband and the more she reflects on the life that she has left in Canada, the more sullen she becomes. She also fears that somehow, someone knows where she is. With each footstep outside of her door, she fears that it is someone coming for her. It is in one of these moments, that she deems it necessary to cut and dye her hair to conceal her identity.

Chapter 2. The landlord, Mr. Vitroni, visits the flat while Joan is cutting and burning her hair. She answers the...