Summary

As Elena is moving towards chaos, her husband is interested in anything but. In the wake of Elena’s personal revelations and in the continued drama at the university, Pasquale Peluso and Nadia Galiani surprisingly drop in on Elena and Pietro. The visit is unplanned and not entirely welcome. Although Elena is happy to see a friend from the neighborhood, Pasquale and Nadia are disrespectful, unpleasant, and argumentative. Pasquale baits Pietro purposely, and Nadia tells Elena that she and Lila are both “underclass filth.” They stay long enough to shower and eat, and then they are gone. When Pasquale leaves he calls Elena by her former name rather than her childhood one.

In Chapter 80, Elena feels the “disorder” spreading. She learns from Mariarosa that her old boyfriend Franco was beaten nearly to death by the Fascists. Elena takes her daughters and rushes to...