Summary

Chapter One opens with an omniscient narrator lamenting how things could have been different for Casa Ordoño if the cook, worried for her son’s soul, had not burnt the bread. They also believe that tragedy could have been avoided if Marius had not ignored his wife, Valentina, as she would not have been in the kitchen. However, it is revealed that Valentina was married to Marius because her parents did not believe she would be a good match to anyone more prestigious. After a disastrous wedding night, Marius has shown zero interest in Valentina who, not knowing what love truly feels like, hides her loneliness by micromanaging the servants. This makes the chef, Àgueda, bitter, and Luzia - Valentina’s scullion maid who lives in terrible conditions- uses her forbidden song magic to try and improve their lives. Unfortunately, she fixed...