The Bride

Maria decides to marry a man she doesn't know to help her family.

Maria convinces Paolino to return to school. With help from her politically minded friend Carla, she persuades the local teacher to let him test back into third grade while she continues her hard work in the hazelnut grove.

The autopsy of his first wife clears Italo of murder but destroys his hopes of seeing her again. Devastated, he attempts to end his life, but Maria manages to talk him out of it.

Before Maria went back to Calabria, Italo offered her the chance to never come back and be free of their make-believe marriage. Upset and disappointed, the woman returns home to assist her brother Giuseppe, gravely ill.

Regretting swindling his first wife's family, Vittorio returns their stolen land before dying. However, he leaves behind newly purchased property that appears to be completely marshy and fallow.

Maria's strength is unwavering as she fights for what she knows is right.