Summary

Book 4 begins with the time marker “1942-1947” (195) and opens in the summer of 1942. Being pregnant together has once again bonded Antonia and Sofia, and they begin spending every waking moment together once again, as they did when they were young. Sofia gives birth to a daughter and names her Julia. Antonia gives birth to a son, Robbie, three months later.

Sofia reacts positively to being a new mother, whereas Antonia undergoes struggles. She finds the physical recovery difficult, questions the life she had dreamed for herself, and feels like a failure. Robbie does not excite her the way Sofia seems to delight in Julia. Antonia’s depression drives Paolo to desperation, and prompts Sofia to yell at the doctor. Saul, who has not heard from his mother back in Germany in over a year, connects Antonia’s feelings to his own sadness, which occasionally...