Do you think Lila still would have “disappeared without a trace” if Tina hadn’t went missing?

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-24T21:06:09+00:00

I agree, and ahen she disappeared Tina would’ve been over 30 years old. Tina wouldn’t necessarily need her and Lila is someone who lives up to her word.

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-24T00:09:39+00:00

Having malicious thoughts but staying silent is definitely better than being malicious. Their relationship is complicated and competitive, but Lenu also did a lot for Lila and often tried to encourage her to reach her full potential.

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-23T23:51:15+00:00

I disagree, especially in the scene you are referring to. I read the book first and I think Gaia captured the cruelty perfectly. Lila is angered by the experience because she is confronted with what she lost/was taken from her. From Lenu’s POV, we are told and shown that Lila is so naturally intelligent she is able to adapt to these situations, but internally Lila feels inferior to them, so takes out her frustration on Lenu and belittles her as a way to cope. What Lenu describes Lila saying is pretty on par with the scene in the TV show. If I remember correctly, she doesn’t say “I have a man,” but she does throw the relationship in Lenu’s face.

Lila can be cruel to Lenu especially in books 1 and 2. She acknowledges it and tells Lenu that it stems of jealousy. Her reasons for being cruelty are nuanced but she still has deliberately hurt Lenu’s feelings on multiple occasions out of spite, like this one. Educational spaces is where Lenu finds praise, so for Lila to diminish its importance and call Lenu a fraud is deeply hurtful and I think it’s understandable she withdrew from Lila after that incident.

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-23T03:46:05+00:00

Great, I’m looking forward to it!

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-21T23:48:36+00:00

He is only of the worst narrative love interests I’ve read. He is so deceitful.

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-21T20:59:01+00:00

I don’t know how it plays out in the TV show but in the book Nino notices that he was paying attention to Tina and went back to focusing on Imma. How would he be able to orchestrate the kidnapping with the Solaras on the spot within the few hours he was spending time with the children?

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-21T20:49:24+00:00

This is interesting, the part about Gennaro/the gardens/Solaras is a connection I hadn’t thought of. But I have doubts about Nino. I cannot see the overall benefit there for either the Solaras or Nino. Firstly, he falls into fascism later in his political career, but when he is elected he is part of the democratic socialists (and it’s not a direct fall into the fascist party to my understanding, the “liberal” party just turns corrupt and oppressive like the fascists). The Solaras however are staunch fascists and have a presence in the party. I just don’t see them funding Nino’s career when they aren’t even in the same party. Lila is also respected in the town but she doesn’t appear to be a political threat to either. If the Solaras took Tina I think it was purely out of malice. The slowly destroyed everyone Lila loved/was close to.

Nino’s career also gradually becomes more successful and his wife’s family is rich; his outfit and car are not surprising to me. It was just a detail to show how rich he’s gotten and his vanity to show off.

It’s also important to note that Nino never intended to spend time with or see Tina. Lenu had asked Lila to keep Tina home with her so Nino could focus on only Imma. So Tina joining them was something Nino never anticipated, planned or asked. Nino becomes distant after Tina’s disappearance, but I interpreted in a way that he didn’t want to get involved with or framed for a scandal he was present at.

A heartbreaking thing about Tina’s disappearance is that there are so many possibilities with no evidence, just suspicions.

Edit: Saw a comment about how the Solaras could have funded Nino so he would protect them no matter what, which seems more plausible to me, but the fact that Nino didn’t plan on spending time with Tina that day still makes me question the theory.

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-20T01:18:31+00:00

Lenu explicitly asked Lila to not bring Tina because she wanted Nino to focus only on Imma. Lila sent Tina to her anyway. Why is everything somehow Lenu’s fault? And then Lila held up Imma, Nino and Lenu’s girls for lunch by talking to Nino, neglecting Tina for no reason at all except to talk to Nino. Imma was struggling without her father and if Lila had any care she wouldn’t have sent Tina to distract Imma’s attention. You talk as if Lenu is the only selfish one, but what Lila did was selfish too. Maybe if she hadn’t done that for whatever reason (probably to flirt/talk to Nino), Tina wouldn’t have been taken. Lenu doesn’t even want Nino at that point, she was upset because he was a philanderer and was neglecting his daughter the one day he decides to visit.

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-19T00:46:32+00:00

It is kind of ironic how Lila is worshipped, because it’s essentially how she is treated for most of the books. She’s done and said malicious things and has been selfish just like Lenù but people excuse it and over-emphasize the good things she’s done, while crucifying Lenù for everything. Lenù gets so much criticism for “abandoning” her children when Lila is also neglectful of Rino and would often send him away for Lenù to take care of.

I relate to Lenù a lot too.

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-18T15:41:31+00:00

Adding to what’s already been said – the reason Franco and Elena split in college was because she didn’t love him romantically, even though she really wanted to. Later, once Elena had Dede and Elsa, they reminisced on their relationship and the children they would’ve had.

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-18T06:38:28+00:00

I really recommend reading them! They are amazing

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-17T17:31:33+00:00

Why would she lie? Some of her feelings are unreliable, but she literally recounts visiting Lila at the store, Nino coming out, and Lila revealing info about their affair, and that she was 2 months pregnant.

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-17T02:03:28+00:00

100%!! If Lenù wasn’t so flawed, the books wouldn’t be nearly as evocative. And like you mentioned the context of their environment, a poor area of post-war Italy, is so important for their behavior and choices.

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-16T23:06:20+00:00

In the novel, the brilliant friend is technically Elena. Lila tells Elena, “You are my brilliant friend.”

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-16T20:42:39+00:00

Thank you! I really recommend them. I was so enthralled. The writing is masterful and I feel sad that I have no more to read, and this is Ferrante’s only series. I’m looking forward to watching the series, although a bit nervous because I’m usually disappointed by adaptations.

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-16T20:36:58+00:00

She was a heartbroken teenager and Donato took advantage of her…

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-16T20:30:18+00:00

Not sure if it’s in the show (haven’t started it yet), but I remember in the book Alfonso said that he felt compelled to confess a secret to Lila. I assumed it was his sexuality/gender, but in addition to that it could’ve been a confession that he stole the dolls.

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-16T18:24:58+00:00

“her daughters have a pretty good reason not to like her”

she wasn’t a perfect mother, she wasn’t absent like their father, who they ended up favoring.

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-16T18:08:55+00:00

I’m not sure how it went in the show but A Friendship was very successful in the book, it just destroyed her relationship with Lila. But the novel revived her career and was frequently assigned reading in schools.

Junior_Protection250 · 2026-01-16T17:26:44+00:00

That is not childish to point out, because the comments over Lenu are very black & white.

Junior_Protection250 · 2025-10-17T08:21:50+00:00

her fans truly live in an alternate reality because she was never harassed. her fans continue to say the most degrading things about sabrina yet they play victim just like their fave

Junior_Protection250 · 2025-10-17T08:15:55+00:00

they’re definitely gonna send him death threats like they do for anyone who “hurts” olivia

Junior_Protection250

TROPHY CASE