while her dog begins to be sick. She fears he is poisoned. Her younger daughter, Ilaria, can't understand her emotional state, just annoys her and is whiny. Otto, Olga's dog, starts to show signs of physical suffering from poisoning, like her son. Olga accidentally jams the key in the lock and realizes that she cannot call for help as her phone line is down and her cellphone is broken. Due to the summer holidays the apartment building she lives in is virtually empty. She finds herself completely unable to focus but eventually pulls out of it and, when her downstairs neighbor comes by to check on her, is able to open the door herself. Olga's son is fine, though her dog dies. Through this situation, she comes to understand that she has the means and strength necessary to control her own life. Helped by her neighbour, Aldo Carrano, Olga resolves each problem and begins that day to fight to restore the pieces of herself, to care again for her son and daughter, and to recreate civil bonds with her now-ex-husband. She eventually rebuilds her life, arranging for joint custody with Mario. Though her friends try to set her up with men, she shies away from them. One of her friends invites her to a concert where she sees her downstairs neighbour playing in the orchestra. Realizing that perhaps she has misjudged him, she contacts him again and the two attempt a relationship. Characters Olga: the protagonist and narrator Mario: Olga's husband Gianni: the couple's young son Ilaria: the couple's young daughter Aldo Carrano: Olga and Mario's neighbor, an aging musician Carla: Mario's mistress Gina: Carla's mother Themes Self-discipline Elena Ferrante often underlines the mastery of those who own their personality and who search, with all their might, to maintain it, whatever happens. From the beginning, this desire for self-control clearly appears in Olga, through her attempts to control language, to free herself from her Neapolitan accent, and to even forget aggressive idioms or tones of voice. Mirrors In the novel, mirrors are fundamentally important for Olga. They allow her to perceive herself and help her to fight her internal crises. Elena Ferrante often represents the experience of a female subject in her novels. The women she writes are characterized by a natural disquiet and uncertainty, and they demonstrate a need for internal discovery and analysis, through the observation of their