Summary

In Part I, Chapter 1, when first person narrator Giovanna was 13, she heard her father, Andrea, tell her mother, Nella, that she was ugly.

In Chapter 2, Giovanna loved her father. He always praised her hair, and loved joking with her. His comment to Nella hurt her. Afterwards, Giovanna stopped paying attention to her studies. He had said she was "getting the face of Vittoria," and Giovanna knew her parents hated Vittoria (13). She was Andrea's sister. Though Giovanna had never met her, her parents spoke negatively of her, often. Giovanna had already feared she was becoming ugly. She wished Nella had contradicted Andrea. Because she had not, Giovanna decided she must discover what Vittoria looked like.

In Chapter 3, Giovanna did not know where to start looking. She knew nothing of Andrea's family. They lived in the south of Naples, while she lived in the north...