When Olga's husband abruptly leaves her on the first page of this novella, what begins is a trip to the depths of the human psyche and all the ugly, shameful parts of heartbreak. Though the book is horrifying in its intensity, I felt strangely comforted by it. Ferrante's prose here is, as usual, absolutely intoxicating, and I think this is her best.
— Peter
Description
From the author of My Brilliant Friend
"She is among the greatest Italian authors of recent years."-Corriere della Sera
"Ferrante dissects the personal microcosm so well, and with awesome lucidity and precision shows us the meanderings of a woman's mind, the suffering that accompanies being abandoned, and the awful rumbling of time passing."-El Mundo
"Elena Ferrante has given us a startlingly beautiful novel of exceptional and bold strength."-Il Manifesto
"Severe and rigorously unsentimental, packed full of passages written with dizzying intensity at a rare and acute pitch. Ferrante is at her best when her writing holds tight to those nagging, niggling obsessions that make up our mental landscapes."-La Stampa
A national bestseller for almost an entire year, The Days of Abandonment shocked and captivated its Italian public when first published. It is the gripping story of a woman's descent into devastating emptiness after being abandoned by her husband with two young children to care for. When she finds herself literally trapped within the four walls of their high-rise apartment, she is forced to confront her ghosts, the potential loss of her own identity, and the possibility that life may never return to normal.
About the Author
Elena Ferrante is the author of The Days of Abandonment (Europa, 2005), Troubling Love (Europa, 2006), The Lost Daughter (Europa, 2008) and the Neapolitan Quartet (Europa 2012-2015). She is also the author of a children’s picture book illustrated by Mara Cerri, The Beach at Night. Ann Goldstein is an editor at The New Yorker. Her translations for Europa Editions include novels by Amara Lakhous, Alessandro Piperno, and Elena Ferrante's bestselling My Brilliant Friend. She lives in New York.
Praise For…
Praise for The Days of Abandonment
"A masterpiece...The magic of Days of Abandonment remains the fierce intelligence of its narrator." —The Philadelphia Inquirer
"The writer is immensely self-aware and her frankness is stunning." —The New York Times
"Ferrante's novels are tactile and sensual, visceral and dizzying." —The Guardian
"Nothing you read about Elena Ferrante's work prepares you for the ferocity of it." —Amy Rowland, The New York Times
"Ferrante's voice feels necessary. She is the Italian Alice Munro." —Mona Simpson, author of Casebook and Anywhere But Here
"Elena Ferrante: the best angry woman writer ever!" —John Waters, director
"[Ferrante] describes the female experience so intimately and so vividly that the reader feels like she could (and should) know the writer personally." —Kat Stoeffel, New York Magazine
"Ferrante puts most other writing at the moment in the shade. She's marvelous" —Booker Prize-winning author of The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan
