The Story of a New Name

“‘It’s not tiredness Ste’, she was born twisted and I’m sorry for you.’” 

At Lila and Stefano’s wedding reception, after Lila has demonstrated her disgust for her brother and new husband’s deal with the Solaras and refuses to greet Rino, Rino bitterly warns Stefano that Lila was born twisted, a word that connotes perversion, contrariness and even evil. It is not only Stefano, but the reader who is warned that Lila will not be the typical yielding wife.

“That night, the room, the bed, his kisses, his hands on her body, every sensation was absorbed by a single feeling: she hated Stefano Carracci, she hated his strength, she hated his weight on her, she hated his name and his surname.” 

This extract describes the visceral nature of Lila’s loathing for Stefano after he has taken her virginity on their wedding night. The catalogue of hated attributes begins with Lila’s repulsion by Stefano’s body and ends with his surname, which she, that very day has taken.

“No one, not even her mother, who was silent during the entire visit, seemed to notice her swollen, black right eye, the cut on her lower lip, the bruises on her arms.” 

The visible signs of domestic abuse that Lila suffers at Stefano’s hands are apparently ignored by her entire family, who come to visit the newlyweds. Lila’s mother’s silence symbolizes the larger community’s silence on domestic abuse; however, her refusal to talk and be convivial is also a sign of protest.