Plot summary

Giuliana has just returned from treatment at a mental institution. Ravenna, her hometown, once a sleepy port, is drastically changing into a new industrial hub with colossal smokestacks, sprawling factory complexes, and petroleum swamps replacing the trees cottages, and waterways. As Giuliana becomes increasingly disconnected from her family and environment, a stranger comes to town, himself a displaced soul who seems to be the only one who understands her. But the merciless progress of industrialization continues to mock her efforts to regain her sanity in an increasingly-dehumanized world.—rooprect