The Glassmaker

The narrative resumes in 2019, when Orsola is 65 years old. Stella died during World War II while working as a nurse, and now, Orsola and Rosella manage a successful shop. Orsola and Stefano live in an apartment in Murano. Angela has married and lives with her husband and children; she “help[s] out in the shop for the money and the people, not for any love of glass” (353). On November 12, 2019, the combination of a storm and an acqua alta (a periodic high tide) leads to severe flooding in Venice. Both Orsola’s shop and the Rosso family workshop are damaged by flooding. After the flood, Domenego tells Orsola that he has sold his gondola and will return to his home country of Ghana. He no longer sees a future for himself in Venice.

In the spring of 2020, murmurings about a dangerous virus begin to spread through Venice, and strict quarantine regulations are quickly enforced. Isolated with Stefano, Orsola becomes bored and lonely. During this period, she learns that her brother, Giacomo, has been hiding a romantic relationship with a man; he slipped away to be with his lover before the quarantine began.