Kate Aurthur editorMary-Louise Parker has joined the cast of HBO Films production “The Days of Abandonment.” The movie, which is in pre-production, will star Natalie Portman and is based on Elena Ferrante’s 2002 novel of the same name (it was published in English in 2005).In “The Days of Abandonment,” Portman plays Tess, who, according to the logline, is “a woman who abandoned her own dreams for a stable home life,” but when “abandoned by her husband, her world is thrown off its axis.” It