'The neighborhood'

The neighborhood is an indeterminate section of Naples, Italy, in the late 1950s. The reader knows it's relatively close to the sea, and that Elena's father is an easy bus ride to Naples proper, where he is a porter in a nice hotel. However, the bulk of the action takes place in a small section of streets, where the five to six key families live, where they shop together and go to church together and dream together. During this time in history, a neighborhood like the one depicted in this novel is the center of the universe. All of the families in the story had been born, lived, and died on the small streets, and to move away from the neighborhood was akin to a cross-country journey.

School

Elena spends much of her time at school. Early in the novel she attends the local elementary school. As...