In Venice, in the years from 1938 to 1945, during the fascist regime and the war, Guido goes from childhood to adolescence. A growth dominated by the imposing figure of his father - the "Comandante," an officer of the Regia Marina who becomes a partisan leader - and his mother, who deciphers the world "with her nose and ears," mocking the presumed male rationality. Central to Guido's life is his friendship, born in school desks, with a comrade of humble social background and little culture, but capable of lightning-fast insights. The two friends - Guido and Scola - enter the dangerous clandestine network of smuggling, and almost without realizing it become partisan relay girls. The vastness and secrets of the lagoon are revealed in long days in which the two boys carry encrypted messages from island to island, tend to their petty trades, and meet the strangest people. But something else unites them: women, who for a teenager are fire, torment, mystery; Scola, older and already a seducer, is a model for Guido. Other memorable characters are involved in this affair, part Resistance part brigand rebellion, including boatswain Tobia and old Whisper, Somalian Maria, who lives hidden in the swamp, a countess and a German major. Each of them has a story to unveil and puts a grain of wisdom, poetry and courage into Guido's education. But when, suddenly, the suspicion of betrayal creeps in, the intangible sense of risk and challenge ("all that matters is secret") that excited the two friends' vicissitudes turns to anguish. With writing of powerful, natural musicality, which adheres to realistic detail without sacrificing the vigor of metaphor, Molesini always makes the reader feel a revelation, a hidden force, staging the disturbances of conscience, which in every human being coexist with the overwhelming mystery of happiness.