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Josie asked this question about The Story of the Lost Child (Neapolitan Novels, #4):
Do you think the Solaras took Tina?
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 to…moreSo 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. (less)
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The Story of the Lost Child
by Elena Ferrante
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