The Story of the Lost Child

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The Times

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 Will the real Elena Ferrante please stand up?

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Will the real Elena Ferrante please stand up?

Damian Whitworth

The most intriguing literary whodunnit in a generation has taken a new twist this week with an astonishing claim: it was the Neapolitan professor, in her study, with a laptop.

An investigation by an Italian historian-turned-sleuth has suggested the real identity of Elena Ferrante, the pseudonymous author of the “Neapolitan novels”, a quartet of international bestsellers that have been embraced passionately by readers, critics and those who love a bookish parlour game.

As sales of Ferrante’s books have raced past 350,000 in the UK and 1 million worldwide she has attracted fans ranging from the author Zadie Smith and the critic James Wood to Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon and Jeffrey Archer, who says Ferrante “does for Naples what Dickens did for London”.

Her popularity has sparked guesswork and gossip about her identity of a kind not seen since Joe Klein hid behind the “Anonymous” to write Primary Colors, the thinly veiled account of Bill Clinton’s campaign to become the 1992 Democratic presidential candidate.

The Neapolitan quartet tells the story of two girls, Elena and Lila, growing up in a poor Naples neighbourhood. Early on, they are separated by education — one continues at school, the other doesn’t — yet as their lives diverge, the friendship continues. The novels have been hailed for their detailed and deep depiction of female friendship. The women love, hate and use one another, but despite the resentments and rivalries they remain tied by their early friendship.

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The Guardian

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My hero: Elena Ferrante by Margaret Drabble

Naples in the early 1960s.

Elena Ferrante’s novels have a driving and unconventional narrative power that has gripped readers across a wide cultural range. Mostly set in Naples, they evoke a city of beauty and violence, and tell stories of aspiration, defeat, birth, sex, death and ambition – thrillers without the vulgarity of contrived plots and sensational crimes.

They do have their literary contrivances; her acclaimed quartet abounds in cleverly deployed postmodern devices such as alter egos, lost texts, recurrent motifs and destroyed manuscripts, but the human interest is so overwhelming that we read on, volume after volume, hardly noticing the sophistication of the narration.

The books are passionate rather than playful, and, unusually, the last of the quartet The Story of the Lost Child, which has just been longlisted for the Man Booker International prize, is the best. She writes with embarrassing frankness about female sexuality and its contradictory impulses, describing jealousy and ugly ordinary sex, particularly in her deeply melancholy The Days of Abandonment, with an unprecedented and shaming veracity that outdoes Doris Lessing. Is she a feminist or a sociologist, or both?

Reading her novels is to sweep through Italian and European history, through many decades of embattled politics, from the shadows of postwar fascism in the 40s and 50s, through the insurgencies and assassinations of the Red Brigade in the 70s, to the cynicism and materialism of the so-called end of history. Her characters are alive and full of impassioned contradictions; they grow old as we grow old. They betray themselves and others as we betray ourselves. Elena Greco and her friend Lila, the one who got away and the one who stays, play out an entangled drama through time. Elena is, like her creator (whoever she may be) an intensely ambitious writer: she is confused, engaged, ardent, brilliant. The range is huge: a lifetime’s oeuvre delivered in a decade.

The Irish Times

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Longlist for International Man Booker prize announced

The longlist for the International Man Booker prize has been announced with 13 authors and their 14 translators in contention for the £50,000 (€65,000) award.

It is the first time a longlist has been announced for the international version of the Man Booker which is now awarded annually on the basis of a single book.

Judges considered 155 books and the prize money will be divided between the author of the winning book and its translator.

The list includes books from 12 countries and nine languages while nominees include two Nobel Prize winners and two debut authors.

The Story of the Lost Child – Italy

Elena Ferrante

Translated by Ann Goldstein

Published by Europa Editions UK

The fourth and final instalment of the Neapolitan Novels series, The Story of the Lost Child is the saga of the friendship between two women: brilliant, bookish Elena and fiery, uncontainable Lila.

RTE

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Anonymous author makes Man Booker longlist

The author behind the best-selling Neapolitan novels is in the running for the Man Booker International Prize, her first major international literary nomination, but the writer’s true identity remains unknown.

The mysterious woman, who writes under the pseudonym Elena Ferrante, has been named on the 13-strong long-list of for The Story of the Lost Child, which is the fourth and final chapter in the Neapolitan novel series.

Daniela Petracco, the UK director of Europa Editions which publishes Ferrante’s work in Britain, told the Independent UK that the author has no plans to reveal her identity in the near future.

“She’s happy to be successful but as far as I can tell, it’s not that important to her. She’s a writer who needs to write in order to live. Having her books read is the most important thing,” he said.

When asked if anyone has come close to finding out Ferrante’s true identity, he said that she has yet to be unmasked and revealed the only people who met her in person are Sandro Ferri and Sandra Ozzola Ferri of Edizioni E/O, Europa Editions’ parent company, and Ferrante’s Rome-based publishers.

“No one has succeeded so far,” Petracco said. “She is happy that all of her acclaim has come on the strength of the books alone,” he added.

The Story of the Lost Child centres on a middle-aged, divorced mother devoted to her work as an English professor. After the departure of her grown-up daughters, she takes a holiday on the Italian coast. After a few days things become unsettling; on the beach she encounters a family whose brash behaviour proves menacing.

Her work is published in 39 countries and has sold just under 900,000 copies in the US and more than 300,000 in the UK.

This year’s Man Booker long-list boasts books from twelve countries including Nobel prize-winner Orhan Pamuk and a political novel banned in China.

A shortlist of six books will be revealed on April 14, with each nominated author and translator receiving £1,000. The winning book will then receive a £50,000 prize, which will be divided between the author and translator.

The winner will be announced on May 16 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

The Economic Times

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Man Booker 2016 nominations out, Elena Ferrante, Orhan Pamuk in contention

The Man Booker International Prize 2016 nominations are out. Nobel prize-winners Orhan Pamuk and Kenzaburo Oe from Japan, and pseudonymous Italian author Elena Ferrante are among the 13 authors in contention for the title.

The Man Booker International Prize celebrates the literary luminaries from around the globe each year.
According to a report published in the Guardian, ‘The longlist has shortlisted 13 books from 155 contenders, and it consists of authors from 12 countries, written in 9 different languages’.

Also, this is the first time “Man Booker International Prize has joined forces with the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and is now awarded annually on the basis of a single book. The £50,000 prize will be divided equally between the author of the winning book and its translator. The judges consider ..

 

The Independent

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Man Booker International Prize 2016: Mysterious author Elena Ferrante nominated for prize

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Her work is now published in 39 countries, selling close to 900,000 copies in the US and more than 300,000 in Britain

Nick Clark Arts Correspondent

Her books have sold nearly two million copies worldwide, brought literary tourists flocking to Naples, attracted fans including Zadie Smith and Alice Sebold, and inspired fashions and recipes.

Now the Italian author of the “Neapolitan novels” is in the running for her first major international literary prize. The only problem is that nobody knows – or is telling, at least – the identity of the mysterious woman writing under the pseudonym Elena Ferrante.

Ferrante has been named on the 13-strong longlist of The Man Booker International Prize for The Story of the Lost Child, the last of four novels in her acclaimed Neapolitan series, released last year in Britain.

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BBC

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‘Anonymous’ author on international Man Booker longlist

The 13 longlisted books

A best-selling author who writes under a pseudonym has been longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize.

Italian Elena Ferrante is nominated for The Story of the Lost Child, the last of her “Neapolitan” series of novels.

Among the other 12 authors on the longlist is Orhan Pamuk – who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006.

A shortlist of six books will be unveiled on 14 April, with each nominated author and translator receiving £1,000.

The winning book will then receive a £50,000 prize – divided equally between the author and the book’s translator.

The winner will be announced on 16 May at a formal dinner at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Ferrante’s biography in the longlist announcement reads: “Elena Ferrante was born in Naples. This is all we know about her… [she] has stayed resolutely out of public view.”

The author has previously stated her belief that “books, once they are written, have no need of their authors”.

Her anonymity has not stopped her from gaining high profile fans such as Zadie Smith and Alice Sebold.

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The Bookseller

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Ferrante and Nobel Prize winners on Man Booker International longlist

by Katherine Cowdrey

The longlist for the Man Booker International Prize 2016 has been revealed, including two Nobel Prize winners, two previous finalists and two debut authors.

The Man Booker International ‘dozen’ of 13 candidates, longlisted for a work of literary fiction translated into English by UK publishers, was whittled down from 155 entries to comprise authors: José Eduardo Agualusa, Elena Ferrante, Han Kang, Maylis de Kerangal, Eka Kurniawan, Yan Lianke, Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Ruduan Nassar, Marie NDiaye, Kenzaburō Ōe, Aki Ollikainen, Orhan Pamuk and Robert Seethaler.

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The Guardian

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Man Booker International 2016 longlist includes banned and pseudonymous authors

Elena Ferrante, Orhan Pamuk and Kenzaburō Ōe in running for £50,000 prize for authors and translators, as award rewards individual books for first time

Novels by the pseudonymous Italian author Elena Ferrante, Nobel prize-winner Orhan Pamuk and a political novel banned in mainland China have all been longlisted for the 2016 Man Booker International prize, celebrating the finest in global fiction translated to English.

The 13-book longlist was whittled down from 155 and consists of authors from 12 countries, in nine different languages. Two Nobel prize-winners – Pamuk and Japan’s Kenzaburō Ōe – sit alongside two debut authors: Congolese author Fiston Mwanza Mujila for Tram 83 and Finnish author Aki Ollikainen for White Hunger.

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Swirl & Thread

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Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels

Take-2-300x199I saw these books for the first time in December 2015 in Waterstones Bookshop. I was immediately attracted to the storyline so (as a result of a very BIG hint!!!) I received the first two as a Christmas gift and purchased Books 3 & 4 in January….I was in love!!!

There are four books in this series, all published by Europa Editions. These books were originally written in Italian but brilliantly translated into English by Ann Goldstein.

  1. Book 1 – My Brilliant Friend (Published 2012)
  2. Book 2 – The Story of a New Name (Published 2013)
  3. Book 3 – Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay Behind (Published 2014)
  4. Book 4 – The Story of the Lost Child (Published 2015)

As you can see the books were published in sequence annually, as they were supposed to be read one a year. I went for it & read the whole series, with a small break after Book 2, and completed the series at the end of February 2016.

These amazing books are primarily a story about female friendship set against the backdrop of a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples in the 1950’s and winds its way through the lives of the characters throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s.

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Booklist online

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Top 10 Women’s Fiction: 2016.

The top 10 women’s fiction from the last 12 months (reviewed in Booklist between March 1, 2015, and February 15, 2016) cover the spectrum, from romantic chick lit to more than one literary title. These novels deliver something for just about every women’s-fiction fan.

The Story of the Lost Child. By Elena Ferrante. Tr. by Ann Goldstein. 2015. Europa, $18 (9781609452865).

The fourth and final volume of Ferrante’s Neapolitan series finds Elena pursuing love and her writing career with passionate fury in the late 1970s. She moves into her best friend Lila’s building, and the two begin a period of calm stability, uncommon in their decades-long friendship.

True Love Stories

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Book Series Explores the Pain, Passion and Power of Friendship

TS-508094024 Italian woman at bridge

If you’re looking for a series of books you can fall in love with, take a look at Elena Ferrante’s best-selling, four-book series of Neapolitan Novels. We noticed that the last book in the series, The Story of the Lost Child, made a lot of “Best Books of 2015” lists including NPR, the New York Times and O Magazine, so we decided to take a look for ourselves. The books also made our list of favorites. You’re in for a treat!

Here’s a summary of each book for you:


My Brilliant Friend is the first book in the series and it’s a modern masterpiece from one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors. My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante’s inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship.

The story begins in the 1950s, in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Italy. Growing up on these tough streets the two girls learn to rely on each other ahead of anyone or anything else. As they grow, as their paths repeatedly diverge and converge, Elena and Lila remain best friends whose respective destinies are reflected and refracted in the other. They are likewise the embodiments of a nation undergoing momentous change. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her protagonists, the unforgettable Elena and Lila.

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Sydney Review of Books

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SHE THINKS SHE IS THE BOSS

BY MELINDA HARVEY

Italy, July 2015. In one of the many delightful old towns dotting the Tuscan hills, a stone’s throw from a seventeenth-century fountain whose wayward spurts and trickles are produced by a child Dionysus squashing grapes, a twenty-something gelatologist works wonders out of a hole-in-the-wall. Holding out a taster spoon to us he says proudly, ‘This is made with Amedei chocolate. Very expensive ingredient! But it’s necessary. I want it to be the greatest.’ And it’s true that his gelato tastes better than anything we tried in Florence. A heatwave is on. In Rome, zoo animals are eating ice-blocks to keep cool. In Milan, judges have given permission to barristers to take off their heavy black robes in court. Our gelatologist has become a very popular young man. An assistant is hired to help him satisfy the high demand. She has fair hair and pale eyes – a modern-day Botticelli in a soda jerk’s hat. She scrapes our gusti into coppette with insouciance. She does not acknowledge us as regular customers, but neither she does she display any disapproval of our sugary diet or bad Italian. She is simply somewhere else, or wishes that she were. And it is easy to believe that she is destined for greater things than this. One afternoon we turn into the shop to find the gelatologist gripping the Botticelli’s chin between his thumb and index finger. Her body is still facing the street but her head has been wrenched to meet his gaze. He is firing off in a rapid, animated Italian; she is enduring the assault through glassy eyes. But now he notices us. His face melts to a smile. Then he says with the confidence of somebody who believes that any misgivings we might be feeling about the scene we have just witnessed will automatically lift with the information he is about to deliver, ‘This girl … She thinks she is the boss!’

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The Huffington Post

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Spend Valentine’s Day With The Independent Women Of Literature

Sometimes going stag is the way to go.

Maddie Crum Books and Culture Writer, The Huffington Post

Lila from The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante

By the time she’s reached middle age, Lila — one of the women that comprises the very real, complicated friendship that Ferrante’s series centers on — has been married, divorced, and partnered up again. But none of these romantic pursuits have colored her principles, or her ambitious career pursuits. She may be stubborn and competitive, but she’s unabashedly herself.