Summary

The Prologue and Chapter 1 begin sixty years from the beginning of the story, when Elena and Lila are elderly women, and Lila's son, Rino, calls Elena to report that his mother is missing. In a very few sentences the reader learns that these women are long friends, that Elena lives in Turin, and that Lila has never left Naples. Elena advises Rino to leave his mother alone and NOT to search for her, which is what she would prefer.

In Chapter 2, Elena explains who Lila is, and that thirty years before, she reported to Elena that she would like to walk out of her life and leave everything behind. To actually, literally, leave the world and vanish all traces of herself in the process.

In Chapter 3, Elena searches through her belongings and finds nothing of Lila's, not a photo or memento to signify...