Between October 1976 and 1979 when Elena returns to Naples, she avoids being close to Lila. This is because she is still hurting from the contempt that Lila showed when Elena informed her she was leaving her husband for Nino Sarratore. Although Lila has never shown the slightest interest in Elena’s daughters Dede and Elsa, she now tells Elena that she will be harming them by her actions.

Lila becomes “a voice invented by ill feeling” for Elena, who admits that as the years pass, she is losing track of who Lila has become (24). Still, she finds that she can only reach Lila by “passing through myself” (24). As Elena the writer recounts the most painful part of their story, she seeks to find a balance on the page between herself and her friend.

Elena leaves her husband Pietro and their two daughters Dede and Elsa to go with Nino to Montpellier, France for an academic conference. There, she watches Nino turn into a suave academic, even though he is insecure about his paper, which Elena praises despite its mediocrity. Elena meets a French couple who have also separated from their families.