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yecatherine 's review for:
The Days of Abandonment
by Elena Ferrante
Oh my, I’ve just found my favourite writer.
Raw, poignant and ruthless, this novel is based on a cliché plot: a husband abandons his aging wife Olga with two children for his former student, a 20-year old Carla with smooth skin, thin waist, and other gifts of youth.
The protagonist and narrator, Olga, is initially depicted as a conventional housewife, dutiful and reserved, yet disconnected from her inner self. The abandonment triggers a profound transformation from despair to self-discovery. It gets much worse before it gets any better, and through a disturbing psychotic episode, brilliantly captured by Ferrante on paper, Olga disintegrates to become whole.
The novel presents a stark and unromanticised portrayal of motherhood, which is often glossed over in popular culture. It underscores its emotional and physical toll, especially when a woman is left to navigate it alone. Ferrante also explores the societal pressure on women to conform to certain roles and expectations, brilliantly portrayed by the story of ‘poverella’, which engrained in Olga the belief that a woman without a husband is dead.
Ferrante's writing style is pure stream of consciousness, intense, confessional and rich with vivid symbolism. From first-person POV she delves deep into Olga's psyche, experiencing her raw emotions and tumultuous thoughts, making her journey relatable and deeply human.
But the concept of abandonment in the novel extends beyond the physical. Olga not only experiences the abandonment of her husband but also confronts the ways in which she has abandoned herself, her aspirations, identity and even her children during her breakdown.
Overall, a profound exploration of one woman’s soul. Note that the novel is fairly slow, especially towards the end - the hallucinatory episode scene took Olga over 20 pages of going back and forth within the same setting; and it’s mostly focussed on internal conflict and the mental turmoil of the heroine.
Raw, poignant and ruthless, this novel is based on a cliché plot: a husband abandons his aging wife Olga with two children for his former student, a 20-year old Carla with smooth skin, thin waist, and other gifts of youth.
The protagonist and narrator, Olga, is initially depicted as a conventional housewife, dutiful and reserved, yet disconnected from her inner self. The abandonment triggers a profound transformation from despair to self-discovery. It gets much worse before it gets any better, and through a disturbing psychotic episode, brilliantly captured by Ferrante on paper, Olga disintegrates to become whole.
The novel presents a stark and unromanticised portrayal of motherhood, which is often glossed over in popular culture. It underscores its emotional and physical toll, especially when a woman is left to navigate it alone. Ferrante also explores the societal pressure on women to conform to certain roles and expectations, brilliantly portrayed by the story of ‘poverella’, which engrained in Olga the belief that a woman without a husband is dead.
Ferrante's writing style is pure stream of consciousness, intense, confessional and rich with vivid symbolism. From first-person POV she delves deep into Olga's psyche, experiencing her raw emotions and tumultuous thoughts, making her journey relatable and deeply human.
But the concept of abandonment in the novel extends beyond the physical. Olga not only experiences the abandonment of her husband but also confronts the ways in which she has abandoned herself, her aspirations, identity and even her children during her breakdown.
Overall, a profound exploration of one woman’s soul. Note that the novel is fairly slow, especially towards the end - the hallucinatory episode scene took Olga over 20 pages of going back and forth within the same setting; and it’s mostly focussed on internal conflict and the mental turmoil of the heroine.