A young, introverted boy falls in love with a more mature and captivating classmate. As the story unfolds through flashbacks, he reflects on the events leading to her tragic death, while dealing with jealousy, obsession, and the lasting emotional consequences of their complicated relationship.

At a farmhouse, a large family cooks mountains of food for the next day's engagement party for Silvia and her city fiancé, Angelo. Her parents feud about infidelity; an aging salesman who rents a cottage from them arrives with a young French woman; in Bologna, Angelo's mother frets that her son is marrying beneath him; his sisters are less critical. Early the next morning, the four of them go by train to the farmhouse, joined by Angelo's married, unpregnant sister. The day-long dinner is riotous, couples display affection and impatience, children chase angels. Angelo's family stays the night, and his sister Linda has a visitor. A silver elephant makes the perfect gift.

Gemma and Benny, two children, end up meeting the White Wizards of Maga Feliza's school and the Black Wizards of Master Badabè's school.

Walter Cherubini, in the middle of the night, receives a mysterious phone call in the editorial office. This is the widow Mazzanti, admitted to a famous private clinic in Parma, who claims to be held prisoner. The next day, the opera singer Marinelli, also a guest at the facility, was found dead. The reporter, having infiltrated the clinic and aided in the investigation by a nurse, will be able to unravel the mystery.