her that Lenù's little sister, Elisa, has been living with Marcello Solara. In Florence, Lenù runs into Nino again when her husband Pietro brings him home. She discovers she is still attracted to him despite the fact that he abandoned her friend after their love affair. She feels inspired by Nino, who seems to recognize her intellect and blames Pietro for letting her be wasted by a routine with small children. Inspired by this, she writes a feminist text which Adele deems worthy of publication. She and Nino start an affair, which makes Elena realize how unhappy she is in her marriage. Lenù tells Lila she plans to leave her husband to be with Nino, which horrifies her friend. Nino tells her he can't leave his wife, and Lenù decides to leave Pietro with or without him. The book ends when they board a plane together. Main characters Elena Greco (known as Lenuccia or Lenù), the narrator and main character. At the age of twenty-five, she marries Pietro Airota, and they have two young daughters, Adele (Dede) and Elsa. She is quickly disillusioned by the marriage, and which further unravels when she meets again her childhood love, Nino Sarratore. Raffaella Cerullo (known as Lila or Lina), Lila's best friend. She starts a relationship with Enzo, and starts working at IBM. Pietro Airota, Lenù's husband, and father to Dede and Elsa. A young professor at the university, he believes his carrier and intellect are superior to his wife's, which she comes to resent. At the end of the novel, she leaves him for Nino Sarratore. Giovanni Satrratore (Nino), Lenù's childhood love and Lila's former lover, who comes back to her life when she is living in Florence. He is married with a son, and has at least two children outside of the marriage. Enzo Scanno, Lila and Lenù's childhood friend, who starts a relationship with Lila after he helps her leave her abusive marriage. Themes and reception The book was very well received by the critics. It was praised by its portrayal of an intelligent young woman who finds motherhood stifling, something not often portrayed, as presented by Roxana Robinson for The New York Times: "She (Elena) has joined the intelligentsia and is about to marry into the middle class, yet her life is still rife with limitations. Her distinguished husband is narrow-minded and restrictive, and she finds motherhood numbing." The