Opening
Lina Emerson arrives in Florence chasing her mother’s past and stumbles into a present full of friendship, grief, and a mystery that reshapes everything she believes. With Lorenzo "Ren" Ferrara at her side and Howard Mercer offering unexpected warmth, she follows Hadley Emerson’s journal through the city’s landmarks and secrets, only to uncover a shocking truth that reframes the story of her family and the theme of Secrets and Truth.
What Happens
Chapter 11: Erased
The morning after her late-night reading, Howard hands Lina his phone—Ren is calling. Howard jokes that Ren is afraid of him, and Lina admits he can be intimidating. Ren invites her on a run, and they meet at the cemetery gates. As they jog, Ren reveals he researched Hadley online; he found her LensCulture Award-winning photograph, Erased, and the stark self-portraits from her illness—some with Lina as a child. The images reopen Lina’s grief, tying her journey to Grief and Healing. Ren’s curiosity is gentle, not invasive, and Lina confesses she can barely look at the pictures.
Lina casually fishes about seeing Ren’s friends again—especially Thomas Heath—and laments not having a phone number to share. Ren says he got Howard’s number from Sonia but was nervous to use it. Before they part, he asks Lina to go into town with him that night for gelato or a walk. She says yes.
Chapter 12: Ponte Vecchio
Ren picks Lina up while she and Howard finish dinner. Howard is relaxed and kind—the opposite of the secretive, possibly cruel “X” from Hadley’s journal—deepening the contrast powering Secrets and Truth. In her room, Lina shows Ren the journal and asks to visit Ponte Vecchio. Ren is stunned she hasn’t seen it yet and insists they go immediately.
His scooter weaves through Florence, and instead of stopping on the bridge, Ren leads her to a hidden ledge on a nearby commuter bridge. Below the railing, the “Old Bridge” glows, perfectly framed, and Lina feels as if Hadley is right there. Moved, she tells Ren everything: that Howard is her father whom she met only days ago, that her mother kept a secret pregnancy, that the journal chronicles a hidden romance with “X.” Ren listens and shares his own outsider status as half-American, half-Italian. They talk about other places Hadley mentions—Space, the “secret bakery”—and Ren ignores a call from someone named Mimi. He introduces Lina to gelato—bacio becomes an instant favorite. The night accelerates Lina’s Identity and Self-Discovery and cements the bond between her and Ren, hinting at The Nature of Family as something built through trust, not just blood.
Chapter 13: The Rape of the Sabine Women
Back home, Lina plunges into Hadley’s journal. The entries trace a romance as passionate as it is hidden—and increasingly strained.
- November 9: In Piazza della Signoria, “X” tells Hadley he loves her while they stand before Giambologna’s statue, The Rape of the Sabine Women. Hadley notes the mistranslation of “rape” from “raptio,” meaning abduction.
- November 17: The secrecy wears on them; “X” insists they keep the relationship from friends.
- December 27: In Paris with Francesca, Hadley feels the loneliness of a love that can’t be shared.
- March 15–20: Adrienne acts upset and secretive; for a project, she drags Hadley to a psychic named Anna, who warns, “One of you will find love. Both of you will find heartache.”
- March 23: Hadley tells Howard about the psychic; he comforts her with a story about the Duomo’s bull’s head and a stonemason’s affair. The mention of Howard jolts Lina—proof he may not be “X.”
Reeling from this possible slip, Lina calls Ren. He’s already set plans: they’re going to Space with his friends.
Chapter 14: Bacio
Howard takes Lina into Florence for a day designed to delight her—and, quietly, connect her to Hadley. First stop: a cell phone store. He buys her a phone and suggests climbing the Duomo, but the line snakes on forever. Gelato first, then. He orders bacio for her and mentions it was Hadley’s favorite. The flavor hits Lina with a sharp wave of longing; she steadies herself, determined to enjoy the day.
They detour to the Mercato Nuovo to see the Fontana del Porcellino. Howard tells the legend: rub the boar’s nose, and you’ll return to Florence. Lina touches the polished snout and imagines her mother standing in the same spot, wishing for a future she never had. Back at the Duomo, the tight, spiraling stairs feel suffocating. Howard distracts her with a playful boar fairy tale, and they emerge to a panoramic cityscape. By sundown, Lina can’t deny it: whatever the journal implies about “X,” she’s starting to genuinely like Howard.
Chapter 15: Space
That night, Lina dresses up; Ren’s reaction makes it clear he’s impressed. While she finishes getting ready, he reads the journal pages she’s covered. At Space, they meet Elena, Marco, Mimi, and Thomas. The club is a crush of bodies and bass. Thomas flirts; Ren grows protective. Mimi simmers.
When Thomas goes for drinks, a predatory older man grabs Lina and won’t let go. Mimi tears into him in Italian until he leaves—then turns on Lina, accusing her of stealing Ren and sneering that he hangs out with her only out of pity because her mom died. Hurt, Lina fires back: Ren was with her the previous night, ignoring Mimi’s calls.
Shaken, Lina asks Ren to take her to Piazza della Signoria. Outside, Thomas gets her new number and heads home. Ren is horrified by Mimi’s cruelty and promises he spends time with Lina because he wants to. At the piazza—the site of “X”’s love confession—Ren shares a crucial detail: he asked Howard about the “secret bakery,” and Howard said he’d never heard of it.
Back at the cemetery, Lina tests Howard. She asks about The Rape of the Sabine Women; he gives an elegant art-historical explanation but doesn’t remember discussing it with Hadley. The pieces click. Lina runs to her room, calls Ren, and says the words that change everything: Howard is not X.
She forms a theory: Hadley falls for “X”; they break up; she turns to Howard—kind, dependable—and then discovers she’s pregnant. Lina turns to the journal to confirm:
- April 5: Hadley sees Howard and Adrienne in a tense, intimate conversation; later, Howard calls Adrienne a liar in public, hinting at secrets between them.
- April 19–21: Hadley goes to Rome to surprise “X” with summer plans. At the station, he ends it coldly—he needs “new creative space.”
- April 22–May 2: Devastated and isolated, Hadley learns Francesca knew all along. “X” resigns from the school. The romance ends. The mystery doesn’t: if Howard isn’t “X,” who is?
Character Development
Lina opens up to Ren completely, braving raw grief while building something real with Howard. Her investigation pivots when she realizes her core assumption—Howard as “X”—is wrong, forcing her to rethink her mother’s story and her own.
- Lina: Finds courage in vulnerability; balances grief with curiosity; begins to see Howard as more than a stand-in for answers.
- Ren: Emerges as Lina’s confidant and partner-in-sleuthing; his protectiveness and jealousy reveal budding feelings; his ignored call from Mimi exposes cracks in his current relationship.
- Howard: Kind, steady, and disarmingly goofy; his art knowledge contrasts with his lack of personal recollection, providing the crucial clue that he isn’t “X.”
- Hadley: Through the journal, appears passionate, secretive, and ultimately heartbroken; her isolation after the breakup makes her artistry and choices feel urgent and human.
Themes & Symbols
Secrets and Truth drives these chapters: every page of Hadley’s journal looks like revelation until it reveals a deeper concealment. The slip where Hadley writes “Howard” exposes not certainty but doubt—evidence that the narrative Lina believes is incomplete. The turning point arrives when clues converge: Howard’s ignorance of the “secret bakery,” his lack of memory about intimate moments, and his open, public kindness—all incompatible with the clandestine “X.”
Grief and Healing surface through sensory experiences—gelato, a boar’s polished nose, a hidden bridge view—transforming Florence into a map of memory and recovery. Identity and Self-Discovery accelerate as Lina interprets the city’s stories alongside her mother’s, moving from imitation to understanding. The Nature of Family expands beyond blood to include chosen confidants; Ren’s trust and Howard’s care become anchors as Lina reconstructs her past.
- Ponte Vecchio: A luminous threshold binding Lina’s present to Hadley’s past; seeing it from a secret ledge mirrors Lina’s discovery of hidden truths.
- The Rape of the Sabine Women: A scene of abduction and re-framing; “X”’s love confession there overlays beauty with moral complication, echoing a romance defined by secrecy.
- Bacio gelato and the Porcellino: Small rituals that turn grief into connection—taste and touch as ways of returning to the living.
Key Quotes
“One of you will find love. Both of you will find heartache.” This prophecy haunts the narrative, foreshadowing Hadley’s breakup and hinting that love and pain are inseparable in this story. It primes Lina—and the reader—to expect revelation to arrive with loss.
He needs “new creative space.” “X” couches cruelty in artistic language, revealing his self-absorption and the emotional asymmetry of the relationship. The euphemism sharpens Lina’s suspicion that the man in the journal doesn’t align with the Howard she’s come to know.
“Howard is not X.” Lina’s realization collapses the novel’s first mystery and erects a bigger one. It reassigns roles—Howard shifts from suspect to ally—recalibrating Lina’s trust and the stakes of her search.
Erased. The title of Hadley’s award-winning photograph doubles as a motif: illness blurs identity; secrecy deletes context; grief threatens to wipe joy from memory. Lina’s work across these chapters is to restore what’s been obscured without overwriting the truth.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
These chapters mark the novel’s hinge. The assumption that Howard is “X” keeps Lina—and the reader—locked in a closed loop. Once it breaks, the story pivots from suspicion to pursuit: the question isn’t why Hadley left Howard, but who “X” is and how that love—and its rupture—shaped everything that followed. The shift transforms Florence from a romantic backdrop into an investigative map, deepens Lina’s bond with Ren, and recasts Howard as a partner in truth rather than an obstacle. The emotional stakes climb: finding “X” isn’t just about solving a mystery; it’s about claiming a family story that can hold both love and heartache without erasing either.