After WWII, a small Italian town struggles to emerge from under the
thumb of Fascism. With wit, tenderness, and irony, Elsa, the novel's
narrator, weaves a rich tapestry of provincial Italian life: two
generations of neighbors and relatives, their gossip and shattered
dreams, their heartbreaks and struggles to find happiness. Elsa wants to
imagine a future for herself, free from the expectations and burdens of
her town's history, but the weight of the past will always prove
unbearable, insistently posing the question: "Why has everything been
ruined?"