Every summer, Thomas de Padova spent time in a seaside village in Apulia, the birthplace of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather – three men who at some point set off from Italy into the world. His grandmother stayed behind. Year after year, she waits for him, quietly sitting in a chair in the darkness of her room: an old woman dressed in black, living without a refrigerator. Why did the grandfather always treat his wife as if she did not exist? What bound the two of them together more than half a century ago? This story is a treasure trove: filled with the bright light of the Adriatic and interwoven with ancient secrets, it preserves an entire world in concise, vividly clear scenes.