Ties by Domenico Starnone is well told and quite engaging story that reads like reversed version of Elena Ferrante’s The days of abandonment. When the latter was written from perspective of abandoned wife and is a meticulous description of her anguish and struggles, first to save the marriage, later just to maintain sanity this novel gives us a picture of deserted wife through lens of her unfaithful husband. Ferrante’s novel feels more emotional, raw and visceral, hysterical even. Domenico Starnone offers the reader more mitigated and restrained version that to me felt less powerful.
Vanda and Aldo are couple for some decades now. She is rather apodictic though devoted and very logic woman. Aldo seems to be rather hen-pecked husband. He’s acquiescent and submissive at home though has his secrects and acts now and then behind her back. Many years earlier he abandoned Vanda for younger woman. We are told about that through letters of Vanda in which she tries to remind Aldo his responsibilities. In case it’s slipped your mind, Dear Sir, let me remind you: I am your wife are the first words we read. These letters create first part of the story. In the second part we get portrait of Vanda and their children, and marriage, and his infatuation with Lidia told by Aldo himself. And here lies my biggest issue with the novel. I didn’t buy entirely Aldo's story nor justifications of his deeds, I couldn’t understand his acts sometimes. Yes, I know in real life people who feeling bored with life and current spouse are pursuing their happiness elswhere. Yes, I can even understand them. Well, mostly. But not leaving own children! And the last, short part of the novel gives just their perspective of what happened forty years back and how it coloured their subsequent life.
All in all rather good read though to tell the true nothing revelatory here. It has some good moments, the title ties for instance in its literal and metaphorical meaning or story with the name of the cat. As a wholeness however it's rather another, I don't want to say banal, classic story about marital crisis, both its causes and effects. Husband that feels he got married too young, his love affair, suffering of the wife and children left on their own weaving between loyalty towards mother and love to father. The novel feels interesting outside its literary value. Domenico Starnone is married to Anita Raja who was "outed" some times ago as Elena Ferrante. I like to think how Ties correspond with The days of abandonment. And I liked that Starnone took one step further and gave us perspective of children. Because when marriage fails it's them who pay the biggest price what is so easily overlooked or just dissmised by adults.
3,5/5