Chapter 6 Summary: Mari's Perspective Unfolds

⚠️ 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

Chapter 6 opens on Wednesday, April 11, 1821, at two in the morning, on a dark seashore beneath the cliffside village of Positano. Twelve women, ranging in age from six to forty-four, sit in a circle under a waxing moon. They are streghe del mare — sea witches — whose power over the ocean comes from their descent from the sirens who once inhabited the nearby Li Galli islets.

The women are performing the incantesimo di riflusso, a spell that creates a powerful undercurrent to deflect an approaching pirate fleet sailing northeast from Tunis. The pirates' destination is unknown — possibly Capri, Sorrento, Majori, or even Positano itself. Local fishermen have already decided to stay home, fearing the pirates might seize goods, food, or women.

Three women recite the spell in sequence. The first, with vermilion hair, wades waist-high into the water clutching a belemnite fossil and recites the opening portion. The second, with persimmon-colored hair, strengthens the undercurrent. Then comes the third: Mari DeLuca, twenty years old, with hair the deep hue of blood.

Mari undresses before entering the water — she dislikes wet fabric against her skin, and the other women have seen her naked many times. She holds a belemnite fossil in one hand and a rope tied to a heavy anchor in the other. Her portion of the spell is the most potent, and the rope is necessary because the undercurrent she conjures will be dangerously strong.

Mari is the strega finisima — the only woman among them with a perfectly intact lineage of sea witches stretching back thousands of years to the sirens. Her mother was a strega, as was her grandmother, and so on. This makes her the sanctioned leader, forewoman, teacher, and decision-maker of the group. She can read the water instinctively and perform spells that would require two or three other witches working together.

But Mari hates the sea. When she was eight, her mother Imelda drowned, and Mari watched the sea claim her. The very next day, the other streghe appointed young Mari as the new strega finisima, giving her little time to grieve. She raised her younger sister Sofia, who kept her steady and cheerful. But two years ago, Sofia — just a few months shy of fifteen — drowned in only a few feet of water while the sisters were doing somersaults and handstands, diving for sea glass. Sofia wasn't wearing a cimaruta, the protective talisman necklace that streghe receive at fifteen. Mari has never forgiven herself.

Tonight's spell is Mari's last. She plans to leave in a few weeks for a place mercifully far from the sea. No one on the shore knows this.

As Mari recites the final incantation — tira e obbedisci, pull and obey — the rope tightens against her skin, breaking it. The undercurrent intensifies more than she expected, and she finishes the spell as quickly as possible. When she signals, the women pull her back to shore.

Suddenly, a shout: Ami, Mari's closest friend, is hysterical because her six-year-old daughter Lia has disappeared. Lia, a strega-in-training with rosy red hair, had been sitting in the circle moments before. Mari panics, remembering Sofia's death — the spinning, the scanning, the horror of seeing her sister's copper hair splayed in the water. But then Lia giggles from a short distance away. She was digging in the sand for baby crabs (granchio). Ami clutches her daughter, relieved and irritated.

Later, Lia asks Mari if the spell will protect them from pirates forever. Mari explains that their spells last only a few days at most — like a storm that churns the ocean before the sea returns to normal. The sea always prevails. She tells Lia about their informants, who watch for pirate ships so the women can time their spells carefully.

Lia asks about the vortice centuriaria, a spell that lasts one hundred years but requires a strega to remove her cimaruta and sacrifice her own life. Mari doesn't tell Lia the grim details, keeping her explanation simple.

Lia also asks about Mari's special blood and hopes she doesn't die, since no one else has it. Mari recoils, as if the girl senses her secret plans. She sends Lia back to her mother.

As the women prepare to leave, Ami slips Mari a small envelope — a letter that arrived yesterday. Mari's heart surges; it's been two weeks since the last one. She tucks it against her chest.

Then Mari catches movement on a dock a short distance away — a dark form that quickly disappears around a building. She dismisses it as a trick of the moonlight, but the reader is left wondering who was watching.

Key Events

Twelve sea witches gather at 2 AM on a Positano beach to cast the incantesimo di riflusso, deflecting a pirate fleet from Tunis.
Mari DeLuca, the strega finisima, performs the most potent portion of the spell while tethered to an anchor.
Mari's backstory is revealed: her mother Imelda drowned when Mari was eight, and her sister Sofia drowned two years ago.
Mari secretly plans to leave Positano in a few weeks for a place far from the sea — this is her final spell.
Lia, Ami's six-year-old daughter, briefly goes missing but is found safe, digging in the sand.
Mari explains the limitations of their magic: spells last only days, and the sea always prevails.
Ami gives Mari a letter, and Mari spots a mysterious figure on a dock, dismissing it as moonlight.

Character Development

Mari DeLuca is the emotional core of this chapter. She is powerful — the most capable witch among them — yet profoundly burdened. Her grief over her mother and sister has curdled into resentment toward the sea, the very thing she controls. The chapter reveals her as a woman who has shouldered responsibility since childhood, never given time to mourn, and now quietly planning her escape. Her tenderness with Lia shows a maternal side, even as she keeps her plans secret.

Lia serves as both a source of comic relief and a mirror for Mari's losses. Her innocent questions about the limits of magic and her hope that Mari won't die carry an unsettling weight, hinting that she senses more than she understands.

Ami is briefly but warmly drawn — Mari's closest friend, a mother whose panic over Lia reveals the stakes of their dangerous work.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Grief and loss: Mari's entire identity is shaped by two drownings. The sea is both her inheritance and her enemy.
The sea as mirror of mood: When Mari enters the water, it turns inky black, reflecting her turmoil. This motif underscores how intimately her emotions are tied to her power.
Sacrifice and responsibility: Mari's role as strega finisima was thrust upon her as a child. Her body bears the marks of her duty — the rope burns, the rash, the constant vigilance.
Limitations of magic: The chapter repeatedly emphasizes that the witches' spells are temporary and bound by nature's laws. Even the vortice centuriaria requires a life.
Secrecy and hidden plans: Mari's departure is a secret; the letter is hidden; the figure on the dock is dismissed. The chapter is full of things unseen and unsaid.
The cimaruta talisman: A symbol of maturity and protection, given only at fifteen. Sofia's lack of one is a painful reminder of what Mari couldn't prevent.
Nature's dominance: Despite their power, the witches cannot master the sea.