The View From Lake Como

Jess works on a self-portrait, the first assignment from her new therapist. She looks very unhappy in it, but she sends a picture of it to Dr. Sharon at Thera-Me. Jess explains that she needs help moving forward emotionally. She is the “people pleaser” in her family, and newly single. She moved into her parents’ basement when she left her husband, and she is expected to cook, babysit, and be a maid. She wants to celebrate life rather than dread it.

Uncle Louie is Jess’s boss at Capodimonte Marble and Stone, their family business since 1924. They live in Lake Como, New Jersey, where the Capodimonte and Baratta families comprise a significant portion of North Boulevard. Jess says Italian Americans know that mothers are the most powerful members of any family; her own mother, Philomena, is evidence of that. Jess usually wears lots of black clothing, and reflects on her name: Giuseppina Capodimonte Baratta. Though almost everyone calls her “Jess,” she still feels saddled by it.

Jess prepares a journal entry, another assignment from Dr. Sharon. She writes about a time when her mother picked her up from school, when Jess was nine. Her sister, Connie, was already in the car.