Elena Greco, the first-person protagonist, is short and blond, with a modern, elegant appearance. Though conflict-averse by nature and willing to go along with the plans of others when she feels it serves her best interests, Elena is ruled by her obsessions. Her lifelong passion for Nino provokes her to risk her stable if unfulfilling home with Pietro and the writing career that his mother Adele has facilitated, while creating upheaval in the lives of her daughters.

The return to Naples signifies Elena’s rediscovery of her roots. Initially, living away from the neighborhood in the Via Tasso reflects Elena’s wish to extricate herself from the disapproving influence of Lila and her mother and to live a more intellectual, bohemian existence as Nino’s mistress. However, following her discovery of Nino’s infidelities, Elena feels the falsehood of the life they built and returns to the neighborhood to enter a more matriarchal system of co-existence with Lila. Lila’s influence inspires her to excellence, both as a writer and as a mother. She attempts to keep up with Lila by trying to style Imma after the precocious Tina, just as she tried to imitate Lila as a girl.