The third part of the Neapolitan quartet—already hailed as "the best literary epic of our time"—takes place in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. The story of the friendship between Elena Greco and Lila Cerullo continues against a turbulent historical backdrop: student protests, street clashes, and the growing labor/unions movement… After separating from her husband, Lila moves with her small son to a neighborhood of new developments and works at a sausage factory. Elena leaves Naples, completes an elite college, publishes a book, and prepares to marry into an influential family. Life pushes them farther and farther apart; they become only voices at the other end of the line. Will their relationship stand the test of change?