| Summary: | The title of the book refers to the name of the mountain from which the statue of the Virgin Mary can be seen on top of Milan Cathedral. Severina is waiting for her husband Massimo to return home after a year-long fling with a barmaid from Milan. At the beginning of the story he pulls on the cable stretching from the village up to their remote hut, announcing that he will be there in half an hour. During his climb, the background to their story is told--we learn of the past ten years of their marriage, the death of their only child, Severina's grief, Massimo's desertion of her, and her reaction to it. She has refused to talk while he has been away, causing many of the villagers to consider her mad. They must come to terms with each other as they try to make a new start.
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