Chapter 38: Mari — Summary, Analysis, and Study Guide
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
The chapter opens on Friday, April 27, 1821, with Mari collapsed on the shoreline, gasping for air after the women's incantation sank the Aquila. She is convinced Holmes is dead—she watched the ropes snap, the hull buckle, and heard the screams of men pulled under by the whirlpool. For a moment she considers swimming toward the wreck site, imagining she might call out his name and hear a response, but she knows it's fantasy. Ami finds her, gently lifting her from the ground, and the two discuss the gunshots they both heard just before the ship entered the cursed water. Ami leads Mari up the hill toward the village, guiding her along the rocky path because Mari is crying too hard to see.
Not two hours later, Mari slips quietly into her family's villa. Believing Matteo is dead, she no longer fears being there—she only wants to bury herself under her covers and cry. But as she passes her father's office, she hears low voices and stops to listen. Her father is speaking with Corso, and the conversation reveals a devastating betrayal.
Corso confesses that he spied on the women, informing Matteo Mazza of their activities in hopes of being paid. He admits he wrote to Matteo after witnessing the women's Wednesday night ritual by the water, describing their red hair, their strange comings and goings, and the small objects they carried. He even went through the garbage piles of Mari's friends, hoping to find something tangible to offer. Mari realizes the shadow she saw against the dock that night was Corso, and that he was the one sneaking around Vivi's and Emilia's houses. Her father, it turns out, expected a cut of the payment all along.
Then comes the worst revelation. Corso tells her father he met Matteo in Naples the previous night. Matteo was not aboard the Aquila—he boarded La Dea, a heavily armed ship with forty-four guns (though the cannons were unloaded, purely for show), which was heading to Positano and due to arrive late that morning. Mari, listening at the door, realizes with horror that she sank the wrong ship. Holmes died for nothing.
Corso tells her father to keep Cleila and Paola home, and says he'll go to Ami's to make sure Mari doesn't leave the house. He hopes this will be the last straw, convincing Mari to join him in Rome. Mari, sick to her stomach, backs away from the door.
She rushes to the terrace and sees La Dea approaching on the horizon. There's no time to gather the other streghe for a second incantation—the ship will arrive before they could assemble. The only option is the vortice centuriaria, the most powerful incantation, which requires the greatest sacrifice. Mari decides to perform it alone.
She writes a note to Ami, explaining that they sank the wrong ship and that she must make it right, warning Ami not to go near Li Galli again. She gathers the keepsakes she'd hidden away: Holmes's letters, Sofia's bracelet, and a pouch of dried olive pits from the tree where she and Holmes spent many hours. On her way through the olive grove, she pauses for a final look at that tree, then tosses the olive pits under a shrub, hoping they might embed in the dirt and sprout—that something of her and Holmes might not be entirely lost.
She drops the note at Ami's doorstep, then unties a gozzo and loads it with oars, a long rope, and a heavy anchor. As she rows toward Li Galli, she touches her cimaruta, hoping it helps her row faster. She prays she won't see bodies from the Aquila in the water. She reflects on the irony: drowning was the deception she'd planned all along, but her intentions are now completely different. This isn't about escape or running away with Holmes—it's about saving the village and ending the Fratelli Mazza once and for all.
The sea around her remains perfectly serene. It doesn't turn black or churn or throb in time with her pulse. Mari believes this is the sea's final abandonment of her—she and the ocean no longer share any connection. She crosses through the tract of water the women had cursed, now calm and steady. As she prepares to enter the eye of Li Galli, she ties the anchor to the rope, tucks Holmes's letters into the knot, clasps Sofia's bracelet in her hand, removes her cimaruta, and begins wrapping the rope around her waist.
Key Events
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Mari grieves on the shoreline after the Aquila sinks, believing Holmes is dead
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Ami leads her back to the village
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Mari overhears Corso confessing to her father that he spied on the women and informed Matteo Mazza
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Corso reveals Matteo was in Naples the previous night and boarded La Dea, not the Aquila
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Mari realizes she sank the wrong ship and killed Holmes for nothing
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She decides to perform the vortice centuriaria alone, knowing it requires the greatest sacrifice
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She leaves a note for Ami, gathers keepsakes, and rows toward Li Galli with rope and anchor
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She tosses the olive pits under a shrub, hoping they'll sprout
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She removes her cimaruta and wraps the rope around her waist, preparing to drown herself
Character Development
Mari undergoes a profound transformation in this chapter. Her grief over Holmes's death is visceral—she can barely breathe, can't see the path through her tears. But the revelation of the betrayal transforms her grief into something else: a grim, determined resolve. The deception she'd once planned—drowning as an escape with Holmes—now becomes a genuine sacrifice for the village. She moves from passive victim to active agent, choosing to give her life to correct her mistake.
The chapter also reveals the depth of betrayal around her. Corso, who presented himself as a suitor, was spying on the women for money. Her own father was complicit, expecting a cut of the payment. Mari's trust in the people closest to her is shattered.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Betrayal by trusted allies: Corso's confession and her father's complicity reveal that the greatest threats came from within Mari's own circle.
Wrongful destruction: The sinking of the Aquila—the wrong ship—underscores the theme of unintended consequences and the cost of acting on incomplete information.
Self-sacrifice: Mari's decision to perform the vortice centuriaria alone, knowing it requires the greatest sacrifice, positions her as a martyr for the village.
Keepsakes as memory objects: Holmes's letters, Sofia's bracelet, and the olive pits are tangible connections to the people she loves—objects she carries into the sea with her.
Olive pits as hope: Mari tosses the pits under a shrub, hoping they'll sprout. This small act of faith suggests that something of her and Holmes might endure.
Loss of connection to the sea: The serene, unresponsive water convinces Mari the sea has abandoned her—a final severing of her identity as a strega.
Sirens: The black waves seem to lure her, recalling the sirens who once tempted sailors in these waters, linking Mari's fate to the mythology of Li Galli.
Why This Chapter Matters
This is the turning point of the novel. The revelation that Matteo survived and that Mari sank the wrong ship transforms the story's stakes. Mari's decision to sacrifice herself sets up the climax, and the chapter's final image—her wrapping the rope around her waist—leaves the reader in suspense about whether she'll succeed or die in the attempt. It also completes the arc of betrayal that has been building throughout the book, showing that the women's greatest enemies were not just the Mazza brothers but the men in their own lives.
Study Questions
1. Why does Mari decide to perform the vortice centuriaria alone rather than gathering the other streghe?
Because there's no time. La Dea is approaching and will arrive before the women could assemble for a second incantation. A solo recitation of the standard incantation wouldn't be powerful enough to sink an entire ship, so the vortice centuriaria—which requires the greatest sacrifice—is her only option.
2. What does Mari's decision to toss the olive pits under a shrub reveal about her state of mind?
It reveals a flicker of hope amid her despair. The pits come from the tree where she and Holmes spent time together, and by tossing them where they might sprout, she's expressing a wish that something of their connection might endure even after her death. It's a small act of faith in renewal.
3. How does the chapter reframe the theme of deception?
The chapter reveals that the deception isn't just the women's secret rituals or Mari's planned escape—it's also the betrayal by Corso and her father, who were spying on the women for profit. Mari's realization that she sank the wrong ship because of this betrayal reframes the entire conflict: the women's enemies were not just the Mazza brothers but the men closest to them.
Navigation
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