Summary

In Chapter 10, Delia took the bus from Uncle Filippo’s house to visit the Vossi sisters’ shop, which was the place where Caserta purchased the bra Amalia wore when she drowned as well as the underwear Delia found in Amalia’s suitcase. Delia felt overcrowded on the bus. She pretended that the men and women on the bus were all subtly flirting with each other. This brought to mind a memory of Delia taking the bus with Amalia as a child. If she went on a crowded bus with her mother, she would feel an overwhelming impulse to protect Amalia from the attentions of men, as her father would have done. This never worked, though, as Amalia always ended up close to a man who would shrug off Delia’s presence with just a comment.

Delia reflected on her father’s constant violence...