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The Story of the Lost Child,
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Lana
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Fredrik
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Natalia
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Tishya
I think the Solara brothers took her. I'm led to believe so by the incident when one of the brothers punched lina and told her he will kill her. Taking away her child ruined her to the point that she could no longer egg lènu on to do anything else to hurt the Solaras. I believe Ferrante also did not share any details about what happened to Tina, so that we are left with the same unsettled feeling that Lina suffered with.. the lack of closure.. To bring us closer to understanding Lina's state of mind.
Nicole
I don't know, I just kind of feel like it's not really important *who* took Tina or what happened to her. If that was meant to be crucial to the story, I think the author would have disclosed what it was. What's monumental is that Tina disappeared from Lila's life in general, and it ties pretty well into Lila's whole fear of "dissolving margins." It just shows how fragile our existences are and that there is very little distinction between our "reality" and "somewhere else." Just like how towards the end of the novel, Elena talks about how Lila was obsessed with both the history of Naples and whatever fantasies she made up about it. For Lila, Tina was always there, just not within the confines of those everyday "margins." Wherever Lila disappears to in the end is surely where she imagined Tina to be.
Beatrice
So many questions. The writer gives us lots of hints of different possibilities. Remember when Lila and the Solaras had a fight? Lila said “ do not touch my brother or son”, she didn’t say “ don’t touch my daughter” . Then the incident with the burned truck that was found. At the same time the writer explains how Nadia hated Lila for taking Nino from her. Also Nino is a political person that might have enemies and they might have thought that Tina was his daughter (because of the magazine).
Another thing to think about is the switching of the dolls at the beginning, it’s almost as if Lila was punished for switching the dolls and then implying she had kept the dolls all those years.
There is also a suggestion that Lila is going somewhere every day, at the end of the book. Maybe she found Tina and is with her, in life or with the spirits. To understand these books we have to understand the mentality of the Naples people. The dead are very important for them, in fact there are these underground caves, which, not long ago people used to bury their dead, just under their house and leave the skeletons as part of a ritual. They also live by the Vesuvius which is an active volcano so they see things differently.
The writer always suggested that Lila is almost not human and has some sort of power good and evil, so at the end she suggests she found Tina somewhere and is with her , but we will never know the exact place. In her mind real life and fantasy are the same world.
Moreover, in my opinion the writer tells real life stories and that is why they are so sad. If you read stories of Naples, there are horrible things happening right now, so I think a story like this must have happened. No one in their right mind would come up with such a sad story if it didn’t happen in real life.
By the way, I have listened to the books in Italian and read them in English. There some little details that are not translated exactly. Also the tone of Lila suggests many different things. When Manuela Solara is killed it is obvious that she had something to do with it. Same when Aquille was killed, not sure if Lila just knows things or she was actually involved.
Another thing to think about is the switching of the dolls at the beginning, it’s almost as if Lila was punished for switching the dolls and then implying she had kept the dolls all those years.
There is also a suggestion that Lila is going somewhere every day, at the end of the book. Maybe she found Tina and is with her, in life or with the spirits. To understand these books we have to understand the mentality of the Naples people. The dead are very important for them, in fact there are these underground caves, which, not long ago people used to bury their dead, just under their house and leave the skeletons as part of a ritual. They also live by the Vesuvius which is an active volcano so they see things differently.
The writer always suggested that Lila is almost not human and has some sort of power good and evil, so at the end she suggests she found Tina somewhere and is with her , but we will never know the exact place. In her mind real life and fantasy are the same world.
Moreover, in my opinion the writer tells real life stories and that is why they are so sad. If you read stories of Naples, there are horrible things happening right now, so I think a story like this must have happened. No one in their right mind would come up with such a sad story if it didn’t happen in real life.
By the way, I have listened to the books in Italian and read them in English. There some little details that are not translated exactly. Also the tone of Lila suggests many different things. When Manuela Solara is killed it is obvious that she had something to do with it. Same when Aquille was killed, not sure if Lila just knows things or she was actually involved.
Elli Kikidi
For me the kidnapping of Tina, almost ruined my whole experience of the four books.. It's so unfair, Lila had suffered a lot, on the contrary to Elena, whose photo with Tina, is maybe the reason of Tina's disapearence, and not the Solaras in my opinion.
Liz Winsor
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Kateřina
I have an alternate epilogue for me.
Because I think about that. It is too hard for me that I don't know, what happened with Tina and what is the worse - her parents don't know. So I try to believe that Tina is alive and Lila find that.
If someone sold Tina - however, she was very clever and maybe charismatic child - she maybe got chance arise her potential. She could be a great student and - maybe later - a scientist / writer / historian ... And one day, she could have an article in some magazine - with a photo. In this case, Lila could recognize her - they were very similar - e.g. Nino remarked that. And thus Lila (or Enzo first) could get contact her daughter.
Maybe it's naive, but I'm looking for some options...
Maybe those dolls might have been a sign to the reader that even the long lost ones can be found.
Because I think about that. It is too hard for me that I don't know, what happened with Tina and what is the worse - her parents don't know. So I try to believe that Tina is alive and Lila find that.
If someone sold Tina - however, she was very clever and maybe charismatic child - she maybe got chance arise her potential. She could be a great student and - maybe later - a scientist / writer / historian ... And one day, she could have an article in some magazine - with a photo. In this case, Lila could recognize her - they were very similar - e.g. Nino remarked that. And thus Lila (or Enzo first) could get contact her daughter.
Maybe it's naive, but I'm looking for some options...
Maybe those dolls might have been a sign to the reader that even the long lost ones can be found.
Louise
I'm not quite finished the second reading of this last of the four books, but I was reading in the hopes of answering this question. When Elena's novel gets published, and then the photographer comes and uses the photo of her and Tina, the Solaras drive by her waving the subsequent article in anger. I think this is the first indication of how they will take revenge, not on Elena, but on Lila, who has been working against them in the neighborhood.
Camille Roy
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Larissa Otero
I just finished the fourth book. It is a tragedy that Tina did not appear and her life and that of Lina and Enzo was ruined. My first is that Marcello Solara had something to do with it. When Lenu is going down the stairs to meet Lina, Nino and the girls, she sees Marcello and her sister pass by with their small child. A few minutes later, Tina disappears. Nobody hated Lina as much as Marcello. Who else would like to hurt her so much? Please Elena Ferrante, write the fifth book and let us know Tina is fine, and that Lina does great during her travelling of the world, either literarily or in her mind.
Laura
I am inclined to that view. The death of the Solaras brothers follows reasonably close in the narrative, as in a kind of poetic justice. Ferrante has introduced us to so many characters that the culprit has to be one of them. Who else? I like also the idea that Naples as a whole took her, as Lana suggests.
Michael Livingston
An offbeat answer—I’m not sure Tina ever really existed. It’s too perfect: everything Elena does she imagines Lilla does better. So she has a daughter (Imma) who’s imperfect, and Lila has Tina, who’s perfect. Like she imagines that Lilla is writing a book that will be better than hers, but of course she really isn’t. And then both Tina and Lilla more or less disappear. I wonder if they were every really there.
Carmen
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Emma
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Chananas
Mmm it is very possible. Ferrante also gives a clue that the Solara's could have taken her. When Elena looks out of the window she mentions seeing Marcello Solara. This must be around the time that Tina disappears. I think it is very interesting that it are those persons that Elena sees through the window.
However, when Tina is lost, Marcello helps looking for her. He looks for her till late in the evening. Would he help looking if he would be involved? Maybe as a cover-up? But on the other hand, why would he want to cover it up if it is there plan to destroy Lila? Would he really just help looking to cover up his involvement?
Maybe he just really cared... Even a vicious criminal can care about a small child...It is not because you hate someone that you also feel indifference towards a small child...And his hate for Lila was not as bad as the hate his brother felt for her in this book...And everyone knows he hated Lila, so would they thought it suspicious that he helped looking for her? Does this mean that his concern was genuine? And later in the novel the Solare clan organizes much of the search. So maybe they just help looking in order to clear their name.
I think that if the Solara's would have taken her as a way to take revenge on Lila, they would just have killed her and left her corpse somewhere. Because that would have destroyed Lila enough.
However, the mentioning of seeing the Solara's at the time of Tina disappearance seems significant. Otherwise it would have been to trivial to mention. And they wanted to destroy her. Nothing hurts someone as much as losing a child, nothing hurts as much as not being able to have closure...I was the must horrible thing they could have done to her.
So I really don't know... I hope they did not, and I hope they did so there is some closure.
Napels was a corrupt city during that time, with a lot of criminal activity. It could have been someone or some group trying to take revenge on Elena (or Nino).
It could have been Nadia, but I doubt it. Would she be capable of something so utterly cruel?
The truck also seems possible. If a lot of eye witnesses say the say the girl being hit or being taken by a truck, maybe there is truth in it. The driver did not stop they said. He did not even try stopping. Maybe the driver did it deliberately. Maybe he was hired by someone. The burned truck can be the same truck and burning it could have been a way of destroying evidence.
Maybe Ferrante does not know either. Maybe the story is based on true events, and in real life the mystery was also never resolved. Or maybe she want us to feel Lila's pain. The pain of not being able to know.
However, when Tina is lost, Marcello helps looking for her. He looks for her till late in the evening. Would he help looking if he would be involved? Maybe as a cover-up? But on the other hand, why would he want to cover it up if it is there plan to destroy Lila? Would he really just help looking to cover up his involvement?
Maybe he just really cared... Even a vicious criminal can care about a small child...It is not because you hate someone that you also feel indifference towards a small child...And his hate for Lila was not as bad as the hate his brother felt for her in this book...And everyone knows he hated Lila, so would they thought it suspicious that he helped looking for her? Does this mean that his concern was genuine? And later in the novel the Solare clan organizes much of the search. So maybe they just help looking in order to clear their name.
I think that if the Solara's would have taken her as a way to take revenge on Lila, they would just have killed her and left her corpse somewhere. Because that would have destroyed Lila enough.
However, the mentioning of seeing the Solara's at the time of Tina disappearance seems significant. Otherwise it would have been to trivial to mention. And they wanted to destroy her. Nothing hurts someone as much as losing a child, nothing hurts as much as not being able to have closure...I was the must horrible thing they could have done to her.
So I really don't know... I hope they did not, and I hope they did so there is some closure.
Napels was a corrupt city during that time, with a lot of criminal activity. It could have been someone or some group trying to take revenge on Elena (or Nino).
It could have been Nadia, but I doubt it. Would she be capable of something so utterly cruel?
The truck also seems possible. If a lot of eye witnesses say the say the girl being hit or being taken by a truck, maybe there is truth in it. The driver did not stop they said. He did not even try stopping. Maybe the driver did it deliberately. Maybe he was hired by someone. The burned truck can be the same truck and burning it could have been a way of destroying evidence.
Maybe Ferrante does not know either. Maybe the story is based on true events, and in real life the mystery was also never resolved. Or maybe she want us to feel Lila's pain. The pain of not being able to know.
Frieda
Yes. Michele finally punched Lila: she was losing her looks to age, Alfonso was losing his looks to testosterone; her spell over him broken with the punch. I expect he had a lot more rage than a punch in the face to get out. Tina looked too much like Lila to be mistaken for Lenu's daughter. I'm guessing he killed the child and disposed of the body so it would never be found. Marcello perhaps felt guilty and so he searched, or perhaps as a cover since he guessed Michele was responsible. Lila's words are red herrings. Once a spell in fairy tales is broken, something good happens, but this novel is an inversion of myth, so something bad happens: Tina.
Eva
I think Tina walked away by herself and whatever happened afterward is unknown. She was upset at not being noticed by Nino when she was in Lenu's house with Imma and when they went out Lila hadn't paid any attention to her, instead she had picked up Imma and talked to Nino. Tina was probably sad and wandered away.
Beryl
Not an answer...I agree w/ just about everybody (:)) below about what happened to Tina, What happened at the end? To me, Lila showed herself to be a selfish friend and Lena is done with her. She used and manipulated her, perhaps she was unable to control herself.
HOWEVER, remember when it was possible that Alphonso took the dolls? He was so close to Lila, perhaps he got them and then gave them to her, and in the end she returned them to Lena. Either way, Lila showed her true self at the end and Lena realized she could no longer have anything to do with her...until the fifth volume(!) CH
HOWEVER, remember when it was possible that Alphonso took the dolls? He was so close to Lila, perhaps he got them and then gave them to her, and in the end she returned them to Lena. Either way, Lila showed her true self at the end and Lena realized she could no longer have anything to do with her...until the fifth volume(!) CH
Joan Pierro
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Nicole Quarto
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Ivan
I think those who killed the Solaras were also the ones who kidnapped Tina. You know by the end of the story, only Lila was spared by Nadia from the police interrogation. Maybe this is how Lila paid her involvement in the fascist gang. Of course we will never know for sure, and we have to rely on Elena as the narrator (which cannot be 100% trustworthy). I think Lina blamed herself the most because she neglected the child when she tried to get Nino's attention.
Karen Catania
I think Lila, holding Imma while talking to Nino to hurt Elena and in the process, she was just paying attention to him and ignored her own child, I think she wandered and then who knows. Is it your impression that Lila had always had those dolls?
Mariano
No, I really think neither marcello nor Michele ever wanted to hurt her. I'm inclined towards the hypothesis of Enzo, maybe someone attacked by Lenú's articles thought Tina was her daughter and took her away. We'll never know.
Jane
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Joanne Kehrli
Could Nadia and Pasquale have taken her?
Lori
I wish I knew. But I don't think so.
Maryann D.
I have not read the books yet, so my opinion regarding Tina's disappearance is based solely on my perspective of the series.
Obviously, the Solara brothers had a vendetta against Lila and I believe they would have NO problem arranging to have this child snatched and sold on the black market. I also believe that Lila's son (a bad drug addict) could have used Tina to pay off a drug debt. There is a scene of him lurking in the background when Tina went missing...
Obviously, the Solara brothers had a vendetta against Lila and I believe they would have NO problem arranging to have this child snatched and sold on the black market. I also believe that Lila's son (a bad drug addict) could have used Tina to pay off a drug debt. There is a scene of him lurking in the background when Tina went missing...
Kai
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Macsreadsbooks
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Vicki Iovine
Has anyone considered that Lila might suffer from bi-polar disease or Cushing's Disease, both of which can be brought on by pregnancy or other extreme stress?
Ahmed Aljabhan
Yes and Lila killed them
Sally Delpizzo
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