In 2010, Elena Greco, now in her 60s, recounts the story of the last time she saw Lila Cerullo, five years ago. The two women discovered the body of their childhood friend Gigliola Spagnuolo, ex-wife of Mafioso Michele Solara, dead in the church gardens. It’s a grim reminder to Elena of the endless cycles of abuse and violence that the women of her impoverished Naples neighborhood are subjected to. Elena reflects on the modernization of Naples, and of the world. Lila gets the sense that Elena wants to write about the neighborhood and their lives, and she threatens to break into Elena’s computer if she does.

Elena resumes narration where the second book in the series, The Story of a New Name, left off in the early 1970s. Now a college graduate and debut author, Elena promotes her book at a bookstore event but is criticized by a prominent intellectual in the audience. To her surprise, Nino Sarratore, Elena’s friend from the neighborhood whom Elena has loved since childhood, defends her novel.