watchoutforintellect: “I was not the woman who breaks into pieces under the blows of abandonment...

watchoutforintellect:

“I was not the woman who breaks into pieces under the blows of abandonment and absence, who goes mad, who dies. Only a few fragments had splintered off, for the rest I was well. I was whole, whole I would remain. To those who hurt me, I react giving back in kind. I am the queen of spades, I am the wasp that stings, I am the dark serpent. I am the invulnerable animal who passes through fire and is not burned.”

—

Elena Ferrante, from Days of Abandonment (Translated by Ann Goldstein)