Summary

Fermina and Juvenal take a ride in a hot air balloon to commemorate the turn of the century and the flight over areas from Fermina’s youth causes her to want to go visit the places. She gets her wish in a way that she would not have wanted when she discovers that Juvenal has been having a sexual affair with a young Jamaican woman named Barbara Lynch. Fermina tells her children and friends that she is leaving simply to visit family and the places of her youth; but in reality, she and Juvenal have decided on a break. Fermina is immediately disheartened at the state of her old neighborhoods and the way that Hildebranda has aged and put on weight. She stays for several months before Juvenal arrives unexpectedly to take her home. The two put the incident behind them without any further conversation.

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