The Tyneside Book Club has just read The Days of Abandonment February saw The Tyneside Book Club tackle Elena Ferrante's The Days of Abandonment. And it was a book which produced some strong opinions - with group members divided in their reaction to the central character Olga.
While some members had sympathy with Olga's mental crisis, others found it hard to empathise, finding her behaviour infuriating.
All found it a stressful read - with several members having to set the book aside at times. But even if there was some lack of sympathy with Olga; most agreed the quality of Elena Ferrante's writing was high, effectively getting into the mind of someone struggling to cope with the departure of her husband, betrayal and the demands of single motherhood. We speculated that the insight of Ferrante - and the visceral feel of the book - may well be a reflection of her personal experience.
It proved to be an excellent choice for discussion because of the strong reactions the book produced, but all agreed Olga wasn't going to be nominated as dog-owner of the year!
Next month's read will be the Booker winner A Brief History of Seven Killings.
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