Character Index
This character index is current through Week 5 (AKA through the end of Adolescence, Chapter 48). More characters will be added as we meet them!
P= Prologue
C= Childhood
A= Adolescence
The Graveyard
Lila & Lenù’s Peers
Antonio Cappuccio
The basics:
He is the Lenù’s boyfriend. He is the oldest son of Melina Cappuccio, the mad widow. He is in the neighborhood friend crew with Pasquale, Enzo, and Rino. His younger sister is Ada.
Mentions:
A7: He works in the auto shop (a job Donato Sarratore got for him) and is trying to get into motorcycles.
A8: He finds out what happened to Ada and goes to Bar Solara to fight the Solara brothers. He does okay until Silvio comes out and helps the brothers beat him up.
A11: He has given Donato Sarratore’s book to Lila, to keep it away from his mother.
A16: He woos Lenù a little at the pizza shop. After the party, he wants to stay outside with Pasquale and fight the Solaras, only relenting when Lila cries.
A44: He goes to the big group restaurant dinner with Stefano; when Stefano pays, he feels humiliated, like he has been treated like a pauper.
A45: He is courting Lenù. When Pasquale calls Lila a whore, he attempts to keep the peace at the table.
A47: He tells Pasquale about what Marcello has been saying. It is implied that he, Pasquale, and Enzo beat up the Solaras and wreck their car.
A48: He asks Lenù to be his girlfriend. She says yes.
Ada Cappuccio
The basics:
She is the oldest daughter of Melina Cappuccio, the mad widow. Her older brother is Antonio.
Mentions:
A8: The Solaras pull her into their car and drive away with her for an hour. She is “a little angry, but also laughing.”
A26: She is spotted riding in the Solaras’ car with Giggles.
A44: She goes to the big group restaurant dinner with Stefano; she, like Lenù, starts to feel a new class difference from Lila.
A45: She likes Pasquale.
Stefano Carracci
The basics:
He is Lila’s fiance. He’s Don Achille and Maria’s oldest son, 8 years older than Lila and Lenù. He is the brother of Pinuccia and Alfonso.
Mentions:
C9: After Lila beats his little brother in the academic contest, he shows up outside of the school the next day and threatens Lila, she yells back, and he pushes her against the wall and grabs her tongue(?!) He also beats up Enzo for besting Alfonso at mental math in the contest, and has a fist fight with Rino.
A16: At Giggles’ party, he unsuccessfully tries to ask Lila to dance; he will not be goaded into fighting Pasquale for getting there first.
A20: He sees Lila and Lenù waiting at the grocery store and has Alfonso wait on them first. He follows them out of the store and invites them over for New Year’s, along with their families and friends. Even when Lila says that she doesn’t want to celebrate without the Pelusos (remember, their dad is in jail for killing Stefano’s dad), he says to come and bring them: “new year, new life.” He also promises to supply ample fireworks.
A22: At his New Year’s party, he is very courteous to everyone, especially Melina and Signora Peluso. He supplies a big box of fireworks to beat the Solaras.
A36: He has a sexy new sports car. He takes Lenù and Lila for a drive. They avoid the Bar Solara, although he says he doesn’t care if Marcello sees them; they drive down the road Lila and Lenù took toward the sea as children and they tell him the story. He and Lila have a vague conversation about whether he is “different,” and he says he intends to be although he doesn’t make any promises. Back in the neighborhood, he comments on the beauty of the shoes Lila made and she challenges him to buy them. He drives them directly to the shoe store to do it.
A37: He goes into the shoe shop as if he is escorting Lenù only, ignoring Lila, and asks Rino and Fernando about the shoes. He looks at Lila’s shoe designs and is even treated to her help in putting the shoes on his feet. He says he will buy the shoes. He leaves, taking the designs with him and saying he’ll be back with them in three days. Lila tells him that no one can buy her. He says, “I don’t spend a lira if I don’t think it can produce a hundred.”
A38: He returns to the shoe shop as promised, and pays a lot of money for the shoes plus more for Lila’s drawings, which he says he wants to frame. Later, he rents the shop next to the shoe shop, offering implicitly to put up the money for the Cerullos to expand their business. This comes to pass: they a deal to split the proceeds from the new shoes half and half, and he even agrees to hire employees to help with production.
A39: He arrives to the shoe store on the first day of construction, hangs up Lila’s framed drawings, and says that he wants to marry her, asking Fernando to let Lila decide between him and Marcello. He calls in Lenù and Lila, who are waiting, and asks Lila to marry him. She says yes.
A44: He takes part of the gang to dinner at a restaurant and pays for everyone.
A46: Rino keeps bringing him in to the shop to insist that the Cerullos make Lila’s original designs, which Fernando finds impractical. He believes Lila that Marcello’s rumor isn’t true, and agrees to “rise above it” and ignore the Solaras rather than seeking revenge.
Pinuccia Carracci
The basics:
She is Stefano and Alfonso’s middle sister, Maria’s daughter. She works in the grocery store. She’s been around in the background but doesn’t become a character in her own right until after Lila and Stefano’s engagement.
Mentions:
A44: She gets into a bit of a cold war with Lila vis-a-vis having Stefano buy them stuff to wear.
Alfonso Carracci
The basics:
He is a school mate of Lenù, “a very neat boy.” He is the son of Don Achille and Maria, and the brother of Stefano and Pinuccia.
Mentions:
C8: He is part of the team, with Nino, who are up against Lila and Lenù in the academic contest. He appears to be evenly matched with Lila, although once Enzo gets involved, Lila raises her game and beats him easily.
C9: He goes home in tears after losing to Lila in the academic contest.
A2: He is at middle school too, where unlike Lenù he does well.
A6: During the second year of middle school he does similarly well.
A18: He is one of the only neighborhood kids to go on to high school with Lenù.
A22: He is the only boy at the Carracci’s party who isn’t into the fireworks battle with the Solaras.
A24: He bursts into tears in Greek class, which for a boy is shocking and humiliating.
A27: He fails three final exams 🙁
A41: He passes his makeup exams 😀 and joins Lenù in the second year of high school as her best friend and deskmate (a rare cross-gender deskmate situation). When Gino says he’s gay, he’s like “I know you are but what am I?” but declines to fight him, which is what would be expected of him.
A43: As an intellectual companion for Lenù, he can’t hold a candle to Lila.
A48: Unlike everybody else, he is demonstrably proud of Lenù for passing with all tens, and even gives her a sloppy kiss on the cheek. They say they’ll meet up at the beach over the summer, but they don’t.
Rino (1) Cerullo
The basics:
He is Lila’s brother and the child of Fernando and Nunzia, a “fearless boy” who smells bad because of his work at his dad’s shoe shop. He is six years older than the girls.
Mentions:
C7: He claims Lila learned to read via sitting with him while he did homework (doubtful).
C9: Lila tells him that Stefano grabbed her tongue. Rino gets mad, and has a fist fight with Stefano. After the rock fight, he goes to the school and beats up Enzo.
C13: His father hits him for arguing that Lila should be able to take the admissions test for middle school.
C15: He quarrels continuously with his father about wanting to be compensated for his work in the shoe shop and use the money to send Lila to school, more often than not getting slapped.
C16: Unlike the girls, he has seen the sea and goes there to swim.
A1: During Lila’s first episode of dissolving margins, he seems to her especially repulsive, even though she loves him most of all.
A8: He likes Lila’s idea to make new shoes and argues about it with Fernando.
A11: When Lenù and Pasquale arrive at the shoe shop to drop off the books, he and Lila are there working on something, which they quickly put away. While Pasquale jokes around with Rino, he is secretly watching Lila; Rino notices and takes Pasquale outside.
A12: He and Lila are making their own shoe, against their father’s wishes.
A14: He teaches Lila and Lenù to dance.
A16: He insults a man in the park cafe for complimenting Lila’s looks.
A19: He and Lila show Lenù the model shoe they have made; while Rino is proud of it, Lila is dissatisfied. When Lila criticizes the shoe for not being totally waterproof, he flies into a rage.
A20: He is obsessed with the idea of setting off more fireworks than the Solaras. This worries Lila, who thinks he is getting too full of himself as he anticipates becoming wealthy with the shoe factory. He collects money from all the boys in the neighborhood in his attempt to show up the Solaras, although he has little chance of being able to.
A22: At the party, he acts like a dick in his effort to beat the Solaras in the fireworks battle. Lila’s first episode of dissolving margins focuses on him, as she perceives him as horrific.
A23: He presents the shoes he and Lila made to his father, who hates them. He and his father get into a terrible fight, then wear themselves out and go back to work together as normal.
A26: When the friends go downtown, he insults a rich girl and her date insults him. He punches the rich kid and knocks him down. The rich kid comes back with a gang of friends with sticks to beat up Rino and Pasquale. Rino and Pasquale are losing badly when the Solaras pull up and jump into the fight on their side. The neighborhood guys beat the rich kids, and Rino asks the Solaras to take the girls home.
A27: After the fight, he and Marcello become friends. One night, he brings Marcello home to dinner. When Lila refuses to show the shoes, he is violent and abusive toward her.
A28: He beats Lila frequently, but then brings to her a plan to market the shoes via the Solaras. Marcello doesn’t seem interested in the shoes anymore, so Rino forces him to try them on one day, precipitating Marcello’s asking Fernando for Lila’s hand.
A29: Marcello’s proposal makes him physically ill.
A34: He’s the only one in the neighborhood who isn’t interested in the television Marcello bought his family.
A36: He fights with his parents for Lila’s right to refuse Marcello, threatening to burn the house down. Later that night, he appears to actually be trying to burn the house down, but he’s just sleepwalking.
A37: He is astonished when Stefano shows up at the shoe store to buy the shoes, and even more so that Lila shows him the designs.
A38: When he finds out that Stefano wants to fund the Cerullos’ shoe production, he befriends the whole Carracci family. He ensures that the brand of the shoes will be Cerullo.
A39: He takes the opportunity to needle Marcello about Stefano’s wealth and involvement with the Cerullo family. When Stefano proposes to Lila, he reminds Fernando that she never said yes to Marcello.
A44: He goes to the big group restaurant dinner with Stefano; he joins Stefano in talking about money and ordering expensive stuff, and he’s comfortable with Stefano paying.
A46: He and Fernando keep fighting about the designs, and he keeps bringing Stefano in to intervene on his behalf (and on behalf of Lila’s designs).
Pasquale Peluso
The basics:
He is a construction worker in the neighborhood, son of Don Achille’s alleged murderer (Alfredo Peluso Innocent!) and older brother of Carme(n)la. Like his father, he is a Communist. He provides Lila with her earliest political education. He is in the neighborhood friend crew with Antonio, Enzo, and Rino.
Mentions:
A7: He gets a job clearing away brush near the railroad tracks, and then becomes a construction worker in the neighborhood.
A9: He laughs with Lenù about all the books Lila checked out of the library. He wants to go with her to deliver Rino’s prize to him. After inviting Lenù to the dance at Giggles’s house, he confirms Maestra Oliviero’s conjecture that he is a Communist.
A11: He goes with Lenù to drop the books off at the shoe repair shop. Lenù is excited to tell him about Donato’s book of poetry and what it means to her, but he seems to not really get it and asks her questions about Lila. At the shop, he sneaks longing looks at Lila and Lenù realizes that he is interested in her.
A12: He says he has to go, invites Lila and Rino to the dance at Giggles’s, gives Lila another intense look, and leaves.
A14: He is at the center of the neighborhood friend group. He teaches Lila and Lenù to dance.
A16: He slaps the pizza maker for apparently flirting with Lila. He dances with Lila at the party until Michele gets him kicked out. Outside, he rages against the corruption of the Solara and Carracci families, giving the girls, and us the readers, new insight into the political dealings of both families. He wants to stay outside and fight the Solaras, only relenting when Lila cries.
A21: Initially, he doesn’t want to go to Stefano’s party, but ultimately agrees to go.
A24: He proposes to Lila. She refuses, saying she loves him like a brother.
A26: When he goes downtown with Rino and the girls, he ends up fighting with the rich kids after Rino starts scrapping with them. Ultimately he and Rino are aided in winning the fight by the Solaras. He rudely pushes Michele away from him after the fight is over.
A45: Although honorably on Lila’s side against the Solaras, he is also quite critical of her and doesn’t think she should have allowed Marcello to court her or have gotten engaged to Stefano. Lenù is the only one to defend Lila against him, and she feels successful at it, until one night he says that Stefano got his money from “gold objects taken from mothers and hidden by Don Achille in the mattress.” He goes as far as to call Lila a whore, prompting Enzo to tell him to come outside (implication: to fight). Antonio attempts to be a calming influence, and the girls keep him from following Enzo outside, so nothing happens and the conflict blows over.
A47: Antonio tells him about what Marcello has been saying. He is furious and says that he will defend Lila’s honor even if Stefano won’t (nevermind that he called her a whore just a few days ago). It is implied that he, Enzo, and Antonio are the ones who beat up the Solaras and wreck their car.
Carmela Peluso
The basics:
She is the daughter of Alfredo Peluso, alleged murderer of Don Achille. She is friends with Lila and Lenù, a bit credulous and not the brightest bulb. Her older brother is Pasquale.
Mentions:
C17: Lila starts to hang out with her and seems to favor her over Lenù.
C18: Lila scares her with stories of Don Achille’s murder. The girls start hanging out at her house and playing games together. Along with the other girls and her family, she witnesses her father being dragged away for Don Achille’s murder.
A2: Like Lila, she goes to trade school and flunks out. She explains the mysteries of female reproduction to Lenù. After this, she and Lenù become close, although she “laugh[s] too much and complain[s] too much.” She has started picking up Lila’s gestures and intonations and Lenù likes this about her. She shares that she is in love with Alfonso (son of the man her father allegedly murdered– tragique!).
A4: She loves looking at photonovels with Lenù and talking with Lenù about her love for Alfonso.
A5: She makes first communion alongside Lila and Lenù. She is so struck by Lila’s advice to Lenù about her love life that she tells everyone.
A6: As it turns out, it was Lila’s idea that she fall in love with Alfonso.
A7: She gets a job in the dry goods store.
A9: She is still in love with Alfonso.
A14: She calls herself Carmen now.
A26: When the friends go downtown and Ada is spotted in the Solaras’ car, she takes the opportunity to say a bunch of mean stuff about her.
Gino Pharmacistson
The basics:
He is a classmate of Lenù’s at high school, seemingly a very rude boy. He’s the pharmacist’s son and Lenù’s ex-boyfriend.
Mentions:
A3: He makes a bet with other boys that Lenù’s boobs are real. She shows him that they are, and he gives her half his winnings.
A5: He tells everyone at school that Lenù will show her boobs easily. He also asks her to be his girlfriend over and over.
A18: He is one of the only neighborhood kids to go on to high school with Lenù. When Lenù gains a reputation for being one of the smartest kids in the school, he asks her to be his girlfriend again, and she agrees.
A19: He and Lenù get pastries together after school.
A22: He isn’t allowed to go to the New Year’s party. Pathetic! Lenù wants an older boyfriend.
A24: After he laughs at Alfonso in class, Lenù breaks up with him.
A27: He fails the first year of high school.
A41: He has to repeat the first year of high school. He is jealous of the friendship between Lenù and Alfonso, who both made it to the second year; he starts a rumor that Lenù is in love with Alfonso but that Alfonso is gay.
Nino Sarratore
The basics:
He is Lenù’s crush: “so good, so meek, so quiet.” He is a few years older than the girls, and goes to the same high school as Lenù. His parents are Donato and Lidia. His sister is Marisa.
Mentions:
C8: He is part of the team, with Alfonso, who are up against Lila and Lenù in the academic contest. He fails to distinguish himself and is quickly out.
C11: He asks Lenù to be engaged to him. Later, he moves away from the neighborhood with his family; Melina rains objects down on them as they leave and he is almost killed by a falling iron.
C16: Unlike the girls, he has casually been to the sea. His parents take him on outings, unlike theirs.
A18: Lenù notices him at high school. His threadbare clothes make him look poor, but Lenù is still into him. He doesn’t notice her.
A25: He still doesn’t notice Lenù, even though she follows him after school one day.
A32: He arrives at Ischia. He does a lot of reading, smoking, and swimming. He and Lenù eventually hit it off and he likes to talk and talk while she listens. He reveals that he was long jealous of Lila and Lenù’s friendship, and asks after Lila. After he has a rant about hating his dad, he and Lenù kiss. He says he is going to leave Ischia early.
A33: He leaves Ischia.
A41: He approaches Lenù in a friendly way at school, but she avoids him, even though she still loves him.
Marisa Sarratore
The basics:
She was a school mate of Lila and Lenù. She is the daughter of Donato and Lidia and the sister of Nino.
Mentions:
C5: She calls Melina a whore and gets slapped by Lila.
C11: She moves away from the neighborhood with her family; Melina rains objects down on them as they leave.
A31: She is happy to see Lenù at Nella’s. She knows all about Lenù from hearing Nino talk about seeing her at school. She has a secret boyfriend. She reveals that she feels coldly toward Nino and warmly toward her father. She and Lenù have fun on the beach.
A32: At the port, she meets some local boys and starts dating someone in betrayal of her boyfriend at home. Conveniently, this allows Nino and Lenù a lot of alone time.
Enzo Scanno
The basics:
He is the child of the fruit and vegetable sellers… who also sells fruits and vegetables. He is a few years older than the girls. He is in the neighborhood friend crew with Pasquale, Antonio, and Rino.
Mentions:
C3: He leads a gang of boys in throwing rocks at Lila and Lenù. Lila hits Enzo with a rock and draws blood. Enzo throws a rock back and hits Lila in the head, knocking her down.
C8: Although he is “lazy, incapable, and delinquent,” he gets involved in the academic contest via shouting out correct answers during the mental math portion. He and Lila end up going head to head; Lila beats him and he curses her out.
C9: He and Lila have the famous rock fight. He hits Lila in the head, sees what he has done and starts to cry. Later, Rino goes to the school and beats him up. He doesn’t tell anyone, and the chain of violence ends.
C11: He asks Giggles to be his girlfriend, and she tells everyone. He calls her a liar and threatens to kill her with a knife.
C12: Before the Giggles thing, he gave Lila a gift of sorb apples.
C13: He is good at doing mental math but is otherwise lazy, so he drops out of school to sell fruit and vegetables with his parents.
A7: His parents are in poor health so he takes over their produce business.
A16: He gets Lila to dance rock and roll at the party. When Marcello grabs Lila to get her to stay and dance more, he intervenes and shows Marcello what’s what. When Antonio and Marcello want to stay outside the party to beat up the Solaras, he encourages them to go home but agrees to stay and support them.
A45: Pasquale calls Lila a whore, prompting him to tell Pasquale to come outside (implication: to fight). Antonio attempts to be a calming influence, and the girls keep Pasquale from following him outside, so nothing happens and the conflict blows over.
A47: He is pissed about what Marcello has been saying about Lila. It is implied that he, Pasquale, and Antonio are the ones who beat up the Solaras and wreck their car.
Marcello Solara
The basics:
He is the older son of Silvio Solara, owner of Bar Solara and richest, most powerful man in the neighborhood. He and his brother, Michele, are a dynamic duo who terrorize the neighborhood in their fancy car. Lila jilted him in favor of Stefano.
Mentions:
A7: After the bar expands, he and his brother get a car and start tooling around the neighborhood in it.
A8: With Michele, he approaches Lenù and tries to get her to get in the car. Later, the two brothers pull Ada into the car and take her away for an hour. When Antonio goes to fight them, they and their father beat him up.
A13: He approaches and sexually harrasses Lenù and Lila from his car. He grabs Lenù’s arm, breaking her bracelet. When he gets out of the car, Lila pins him up against it at knifepoint. She lets him go. Possibly turned on by being humiliated in this fashion, Marcello gets on the ground, finds the bracelet, fixes it, and returns it.
A16: He tries to ask Lila to dance; after his brother gets Pasquale removed from the dance floor, Lila dances with him two times. He wants her to stay when her friends are leaving, grabbing her arm; he gets his arm grabbed in turn by a protective Enzo and lets go of her.
A20: He has been hanging around outside the shoe shop, looking for/at Lila. He also is creating a giant stockpile of fireworks for New Year’s Eve.
A22: He firework-battles with the Carraccis’ party on NYE.
A24: He declares his love to Lila. She insults him.
A26: He and Michele come to Pasquale and Rino’s aid in their fight with the rich kids.
A27: After the fight, he stops following Lila around but does strike up a friendship with Rino. One night Rino brings him home to dinner. He holds forth at dinner, praising Fernando and talking about neighborhood progress. He suddenly says that he knows Rino and Lila made a pair of new shoes, and asks to see them, setting off a big conflict between Lila and her male relatives.
A28: He isn’t that into the shoes anymore, but he does take the opportunity to ask Fernando if he can marry Lila.
A33: After proposing to Lila, he visits her family every night and gives them a television. He threatens to kill Lila if she likes someone else.
A35: He gives Lila a diamond ring. Although she initially accepts it to appease her parents, she gives it back later and he bursts into tears.
A39: He continues to visit the Cerullos each night, even though Lila goes to bed as soon as he arrives and Rino starts poking fun at him about the Stefano thing. He goes to Nunzia for encouragement; she claims that Stefano is interested in Lenù, not Lila. He says that Lila shouldn’t hang out with Lenù anymore.
A40: After asking him to ice cream, Lila tells him that she loves Stefano. He says he will kill them, but he can’t because he loves Lila too much.
A45: After Lila gets engaged to Stefano, he and his brother confront Rino and grossly insult him.
A46: He starts a rumor that Lila gave him a blowjob every time he went over to her house.
Michele Solara
The basics:
He is the younger son of Silvio Solara, owner of Bar Solara and richest, most powerful man in the neighborhood. He and his brother, Marcello, are a dynamic duo who terrorize the neighborhood in their fancy car. He is in the talking stage with Giggles.
Mentions:
A7: After the bar expands, he and his brother get a car and start tooling around the neighborhood in it.
A8: With Marcello, he approaches Lenù and tries to get her to get in the car. Later, the two brothers pull Ada into the car and take her away for an hour. When Antonio goes to fight them, they and their father beat him up.
A13: With Marcello, he approaches and sexually harrasses Lenù and Lila from his car. When Lila pins Marcello up against the car, he first encourages Marcello not to take her seriously, then changes his tune and tells him to get back in the car.
A16: When Pasquale beats Marcello in the race to ask Lila to dance, he first tries to get Stefano to fight with Pasquale, then runs to Giggles’s mother to get Pasquale kicked off the dance floor.
A20: Along with Marcello, he is creating a giant stockpile of fireworks for New Year’s Eve.
A22: He firework-battles with the Carraccis’ party on NYE. According to Marcello, he is the one who fires the gun.
A26: He and Marcello come to Pasquale and Rino’s aid in their fight with the rich kids. Solidifying his image as neighborhood psycho, he “got out of the car, opened the trunk in a leisurely way, took out something that looked like a shiny iron bar, and joined in, hitting with a cold ferocity that [Lenù hopes] to never see again in [her] life.” On the way home, he makes out with Giggles in the front seat of the car.
A27: Lila says that his iron bar was sharpened to a point. He’s a dangerous motherfucker!
A45: After Lila gets engaged to Stefano, he and his brother confront Rino and grossly insult him.
Gigliola Spagnuolo
The basics:
She is the daughter of the skilled pastry maker. Along with Lenù, she is allowed to go to middle school, but she doesn’t go on to high school. She goes to work in the pastry shop and becomes Michele Solara’s unofficial girlfriend.
Mentions:
C11: When Enzo asks her to be his girlfriend, she tells everyone.
C13: Along with Lila and Lenù, she is encouraged to take the admissions test for middle school.
C15: She begins private tutoring for the middle school admissions test alongside Lenù.
C16: Unlike the girls, she has casually been to the sea. Her parents take her on outings, unlike theirs.
A2: Like Lenù, she struggles in school. Unlike Lenù, she fails two classes. She gets a private tutor over the summer who she thinks is in love with her.
A6: She does better than Lenù during the second year of middle school.
A9: She is jealous of Lenù’s academic success and says that Gino is after her, but that she is in love with Marcello.
A14: Her parents are lenient and allow the kids to meet up at her house and dance.
A18: She doesn’t go on to high school; she goes to work at the pastry shop.
A26: She is spotted riding in the Solaras’ car. After the fight, the girls all cram into the Solaras’ car to go home, and to “make room” she sits in Michele’s lap making out with him while looking back at Lenù (weirdo). She mockingly asks Lenù how school is, saying that her current life is more fun.
A44: She’s not officially dating Michele, but she enjoys having him buy her stuff.
A46: She claims that Lila gave Marcello a bj every night when he used to go over to her house! She says Michele told her that Marcello told him.
The Olds
Melina Cappuccio
The basics:
She’s the “mad widow.” Her kids are Antonio and Ada.
Mentions:
C5: After her husband dies, Melina is “much helped” by Donato Sarratore. Melina falls in love with him and decides to “do battle against” Donato’s wife. The two women first prank each other, then escalate to openly insulting each other, then have a physical fight and roll down the stairs. At some point after this Lenù walks home with a group of girls including Lila and Marisa, Lidia’s daughter. Marisa casually calls Melina a whore and Lila slaps her. Lila leaves the girls to join Melina; Lenù notices that Melina is eating soap.
C11: She screams and throws objects down onto the Sarratore family as they leave the neighborhood.
A10: After having calmed down for quite a while, she receives a book of poems, apparently inscribed for her by Donato Sarratore, and has a fit of happy mania.
Maria Carracci
The basics:
She is Don Achille’s wife and the mother of Stefano, Pinuccia, and Alfonso.
Mentions:
C1: We are treated to a fantasy image of her cooking Lenù in a pan of oil.
C9: She makes a scene with Nunzia (Lila’s mom) because Lila beat Alfonso in the academic contest.
C14: She answers the door when the girls ring the bell looking for their dolls.
A44: She’s not a fan of Lila, especially the way that clothes look way better on Lila than Pinuccia.
Fernando Cerullo
The basics:
He is a shoemaker. He is married to Nunzia. His kids are Rino 1 and Lila.
Mentions:
C9: He timidly apologizes to Don Achille for Lila’s academic beatdown of Alfonso while Don Achille ignores him.
C15: He gets mad at Lila for reading. Father of the year! He also quarrels with Rino continuously about whether Lila should take the test for middle school and also refuses to pay him for working in the shoe shop because he’s paying him in experience.
C17: During a conflict about whether Lila can go to school to learn Latin, he throws her out of the window.
C18: He might be sorry he threw Lila out of the window; he won’t look at her until the cast is removed.
A1: He allows Lila to go to a sort of trade school.
A4: Some backstory: he attempted to escape his own father’s shoemaking shop as a boy via going to work at a shoe factory. This adventure satisfied him and he went back to take over his family’s shop.
A8: He does not like Lila’s idea that they should make new shoes, even when Rino argues that the newly prosperous neighborhood might support this ambition.
A23: He pretends to like the shoes Rino and Lila made, but then reveals that he is furious.
A27: He likes the new friendship between Rino and Marcello. He tries to get Lila to show Marcello the shoes. When she won’t, he is abusive toward her.
A28: When Lila asks if they can show the shoes to Marcello for help in their promotion, he shares a secretive look with Nunzia and agrees to put the shoes in the shop window.
A29: He tells Lila to accept Marcello’s proposal, threatening to break every bone in her body if she doesn’t.
A37: He brags about the shoes to Stefano and claims that he helped make them, like a ding dang chump.
A38: After making a verbal deal with Stefano to produce Cerullo shoes, he goes on a rant about how he should have married this other woman who was a harder worker than Nunzia. Hooookay.
A39: When Stefano says he wants to marry Lila, he claims that she is already engaged to Marcello, but ultimately does let her decide herself to marry Stefano.
A46: He and Rino keep fighting about the designs; he thinks that Lila’s original designs are impractical.
Nunzia Cerullo
The basics:
She is married to Fernando. Her kids are Rino 1 and Lila.
Mentions:
C6: She usually looks sloppy, but comes to school all dressed up to witness Maestra Oliviero display Lila’s reading and writing skills.
C9: Donna Maria (Don Achille’s wife/Alfonso’s mom) makes a scene with her because Lila beat Alfonso in the academic contest.
C13: She hesitantly argues that Lila should be allowed to take the admissions test for middle school. Her husband forbids it, so she goes to school to tell Maestra Oliviero their decision. She stands firm even when the teacher and principal spend a long time trying to convince her.
A23: On the day of the Befana, she doesn’t understand that Fernando is being sarcastic in his praise of the shoes and joins in on the praise sincerely.
A27: Lila and Lenù tell her that Lila has refused a proposal from Marcello, and she says never to tell Fernando. She ends the big fight about the shoes by threatening to kill herself if it didn’t stop.
A39: She feebly claims to Marcello that Stefano is interested in Lenù, not Lila. Nice try.
A40: When Lila asks Marcello to ice cream, he tries to get her to come with them. She’s no dummy, though, and tells them to go alone (so Lila can dump Marcello).
Professor Galiani
The basics:
She is the cool, hot, Communist teacher at Lenù’s high school.
Mentions:
A25: Lenù writes a paper about Dido that impresses her. Lenù finds out that she is Nino’s teacher, and hopes to attract his attention by being praised by her in front of him.
Vittorio Greco
The basics:
He is a porter. He is married to Immacolata. His kids are Lenù, Peppe & Gianni, and Elisa.
Mentions:
C7: Lenù prefers him to her mother, although he sometimes beats her mother. He threatens to make her leave school if she isn’t the best.
C13: Via discussion with his wife, he decides that Lenù can take the admissions test for middle school.
C16: He slaps his wife for insisting that he beat Lenù after she skips school; he then beats Lenù for skipping school.
A2: He allows Lenù to continue at school despite her marginal performance because hey, at least she passed.
A6: When Lenù does poorly in the second year of middle school, he decides that she should be pulled out.
A9: He thinks Elena should get a post at city hall after middle school.
A10: At Maestra Oliverio’s insistence, he agrees to send Lenù to high school. He tells Lenù he will break her legs if she hangs out with Pasquale. He insults Donato for sending Melina the poems.
A14: He shows Lenù around Naples; this is the only day they ever spend on their own together.
A36: He compliments Lenù on how beautiful she looks upon returning from Ischia.
A42: He is not happy that Lenù needs glasses, but comes up with the money.
A48: When Lenù is promoted with all tens to the third year of high school, he doesn’t really care and tells Lenù to go get money for books from Maestra Oliviero.
Immacolata Greco
The basics:
She is married to Vittorio. Her kids are Lenù, Peppe & Gianni, and Elisa.
Mentions:
C7: Lenù is chronically unable to please her, and is disgusted by her in turn, particularly her limp. Lenù fears developing a limp like her.
C13: She doesn’t want to spend the money on extra tutoring for Lenù’s middle school admissions test, but is eventually convinced.
C16: She discovers that Lenù skipped school to go to the sea with Lila. She slaps her, and insists that Lenù’s father beat her.
A2: When she is called to school and humiliated by Lenù’s lack of success, she wants to pull Lenù out to help at home.
A5: She buys Lenù a bra. She seems offput or ashamed by Lenù’s puberty.
A6: After her husband says that Lenù has to leave school, she says that while they can’t afford extra tutoring, Lenù can try to study by herself and pass the exam for the next grade.
A9: She thinks that Lenù should work at the stationer’s shop after middle school.
A10: At Maestra Oliverio’s insistence, she agrees to send Lenù to high school, although she is not happy about it. She goes to check on Melina and finds out about Donato Sarratore’s book of poems. She says that Donato is a disgusting man.
A29: She is enraged by Maestra Oliviero’s instruction that Lenù is to go to Ischia for the rest of the summer, but makes her a bathing suit and brings her to the ferry, warning her about the dangers of swimming. She claims that she brought Lenù to the seaside as a child, but Lenù doesn’t remember.
A36: She reproaches Lenù for returning from Ischia early.
A42: She is mad that Lenù needs glasses.
A48: When Lenù is promoted with all tens to the third year of high school, she doesn’t really care and tells Lenù she can’t go to Ischia again.
Nella Incardo
The basics:
She is Maestra Oliviero’s cousin and she runs a guest house on Ischia.
Mentions:
A30: She’s really cool to Lenù and makes her a sexy bathing suit. She has a book of poems by Donato Sarratore, because the Sarratores stay at her guest house.
Maestra Oliviero
The basics:
She is the elementary school teacher and something of a guardian angel to Lenù’s continuing education.
Mentions:
C3: She has it out for Lila. She approaches Lila while Lila is “being bad,” falls, and hits her face on the desk.
C6: After she hits her face on the desk, she is absent awhile then returns to school. Her attitude toward Lila changes when she discovers that Lila can read and write.
C8: She orchestrates the academic contest between Lila/Lenù and Nino/Alfonso.
C13: She works hard to convince Nunzia that Lila needs to go to middle school, but fails.
C15: She tutors Lenù and Giggles for the admissions test, supplying them also with cookies and sody-pop. She ignores The Blue Fairy and calls Lila a pleb, and stops praising her in class.
A9: She tells Lenù that she has to keep studying and that she will talk to her parents– she also tells Lenù that Pasquale is a Communist and that she should stay away from him.
A10: She shows up at Lenù’s house to tell her parents that they have to send her to high school, and also tattles on Lenù for hanging out with the unsuitable Pasquale. She also insists that Lenù brag to Lila about her educational attainment.
A27: Lenù goes to visit her. She is sick. She suggests that Lenù spend the summer with her cousin in Ischia.
A29: She shows up at Lenù’s house, looking ill and saying that she got her cousin’s permission to send Lenù to visit Ischia. She is bossy and dismissive of Lenù’s other family members.
A48: When Lenù visits her after passing the second year of high school, she goes on a rant about how Lila’s brain wound up in her sexy body. Lenù thinks that she is speaking out of regret for not doing better by Lila. Could be!
Signor Peluso
The basics:
He is a carpenter and a gambler. His wife is Giuseppina; his kids are Pasquale and Carmela. He is currently doing time for the murder of Don Achille.
Mentions:
C4: He blames Don Achille for his family’s poverty. A rumor spreads that he yelled at Don Achille in front of the church, and that Don Achille threw him violently against a tree.
C18: He seems to be doing better. He has a job as a waiter and is trying not to gamble his money away. One day, the carabinieri come and take him away for Don Achille’s murder, although he swears he is innocent.
Donato Sarratore
The basics:
He is a railroad worker and published poet. He sexually assaulted Lenù on her fifteenth birthday. His wife is Lidia and his kids are Nino and Marisa. There are also some other kids but don’t worry about them.
Mentions:
C5: After her husband dies, Melina the mad widow is “much helped” by him– after all, he’s a good Christian. He even finds Melina’s son a job. Although Melina falls in love with him, many in the neighborhood think that he might not even know. He’s friendly but diligent and appears devoted to his wife and five kids. He works on the railroad, all the live long day, and is considered “womanish” by the men of the neighborhood because he does sissy stuff like helping out his wife and writing poems.
C11: He moves his family away from the neighborhood, maybe because he got a new house, maybe to get away from Melina.
A10: His book of poems is published, and he apparently sends an inscribed copy to Melina.
A31: He impresses Lenù with his courtesy and fun antics on the beach. He leaves Ischia after spending three days.
A32: He comes back to Ischia every few days. He is looking forward to staying there consistently after August 13.
A33: He arrives on Ischia to stay. He has a fun bonfire with Marisa and her friends. He reads to Lenù out of the newspaper, and praises Nino in his absence.
A35: He sexually assaults Lenù on the night of her fifteenth birthday.
A41: Lenù possibly spots him lurking around the outskirts of the neighborhood in his little conductor’s uniform.
Lidia Sarratore
The basics:
She is Donato’s wife and the mother of Nino and Marisa, as well as other kids who we don’t care about.
Mentions:
C5: She and Melina fight over the heart of Donato. All the kids take her side except Lila.
C11: She moves away from the neighborhood with her family; Melina rains objects down on them as they leave.
A31: Although she responds to Lenù with coldness initially, she warms up at dinner.
A33: She gives Lenù an old dress of hers.
Silvio Solara
The basics:
He is a rich old meanie, the owner of the Bar Solara. His sons are Marcello and Michele.
Mentions:
C18: He hits people with a big stick if they don’t pay for their drinks or do other undesirable things.
A8: He helps his sons beat up Antonio.
A45: After Lila gets engaged to Stefano, he goes to the shoe shop, says Fernando didn’t bring Lila up properly, says that Fernando will never find a store that will sell his shoes, and threatens obscurely to burn the shoe shop down.
The Youngs
Rino 2
The basics:
He is Lila’s son. In the Prologue, he is an adult: “a small-time crook and spendthrift… he had no brain, and in his heart he had only himself.”
Mentions:
P1: He calls Elena to report that his mother is missing.
P3: Elena calls him. He rambles incoherently. Elena instructs him to search the house for Lila’s things.
The Graveyard
Don Achille Carracci
The basics:
He was the ogre of the neighborhood and everyone hated him. His wife was Donna Maria. His kids were Stefano, Pinuccia, and Alfonso.
Mentions:
C1: Elena describes how scary he is, not only to her, but also to the grown ups in the neighborhood, although at this point it’s unclear why.
C4: Signor Peluso blames him for his poverty. A rumor spreads that Signor Peluso yelled at him in front of the church, and that he threw Signor Peluso violently against a tree.
C9: Lila’s dad timidly apologizes to him for Lila’s academic beatdown of Alfonso. He ignores Lila’s dad.
C10: When the dolls are missing from the cellar, Lila accuses him of stealing them and putting them in his black bag.
C14: The girls go to his door to ask for their dolls back. He is ugly, but in a normal kind of way. He denies taking the dolls and calls into the apartment to ask his kids if they took it. Lila accuses him again, and he seems pained rather than angry. He gives the girls money and says to buy themselves new dolls, and to remember that they were a gift from him.
C18: He is murdered. RIP Don Achille!