The earthquake that struck Southern Italy on November 23, 1980, was so severe — a 6.9 on the Richter scale — it resulted in more than 2,700 casualties. The damage to one town, Conza della Campania, was so intense it uncovered the remains of an ancient Roman city.
Lenù and Lila endure the tremor together, without their kids or “husbands” for once. For Lila, in particular, the earthquake is shattering both physically and spiritually: It breaks something open in her. It’s a striking metaphor and a pivotal moment in the relationship of the two women, whose reliance on each other deepens in the absence of their families.
Lila, so often implacable and invulnerable, is scared and uncertain. It’s so rare for Lila to seem out of control that Lenù keeps a mental tally of the times when she is, as when she supposedly exploded a copper pot as if by telekinesis or when a poster of her at the shoe store combusted maybe or maybe not because of her fury. There was New Year’s Eve 1958 when the Solaras shot fireworks at their group and Lila lost her balance.
More recently, her body nearly collapsed under hard labor at the Soccavo factory. Whatever the interval between them, Lila’s meltdowns are always seismic, one with their environment. Though people insist the real trouble resides in her head, a breaking point is always coupled with an environmental shift.
But I’m getting ahead of myself — the earthquake doesn’t happen until about halfway through the episode. When �.