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A review by casskrug
The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
4.0
i’ve had to really sit with this one for a little bit to collect my thoughts! i was really excited to read another standalone novel from ferrante, and the description of the book is right up my alley. however, i had a tough time getting fully immersed in the book until the second half, and felt like my progress through it was a lot slower than i would have expected or wanted it to be.
the days of abandonment follows olga, a mother of 2 who was just told by her husband of many years that he’s leaving her for another woman. we watch as olga’s life unravels over the course of a hot italian summer. ferrante is digging into desire and jealousy, the rage and grief that come with the end of a relationship, and gendered parental expectations.
the first half of the book took some time to get going, but as we approach the second half and realize just how unwell olga is, the stakes become much higher and i felt a lot more engaged. there’s an encroaching sense of doom and instability that made it difficult to predict how the book would end. i think there were some phrasing that felt off/unclear, maybe due to the translation? but the themes and writing style were classic ferrante - she puts everything on the table with her cutting prose.
i wonder if my experience would’ve benefitted from reading a physical copy of this book rather than an ebook - going to keep an eye out at the used bookstore so i can eventually revisit this in paperback! for whatever reason i find that i sometimes have more difficulty with ebooks.
the days of abandonment follows olga, a mother of 2 who was just told by her husband of many years that he’s leaving her for another woman. we watch as olga’s life unravels over the course of a hot italian summer. ferrante is digging into desire and jealousy, the rage and grief that come with the end of a relationship, and gendered parental expectations.
the first half of the book took some time to get going, but as we approach the second half and realize just how unwell olga is, the stakes become much higher and i felt a lot more engaged. there’s an encroaching sense of doom and instability that made it difficult to predict how the book would end. i think there were some phrasing that felt off/unclear, maybe due to the translation? but the themes and writing style were classic ferrante - she puts everything on the table with her cutting prose.
i wonder if my experience would’ve benefitted from reading a physical copy of this book rather than an ebook - going to keep an eye out at the used bookstore so i can eventually revisit this in paperback! for whatever reason i find that i sometimes have more difficulty with ebooks.