by Elena Ferrante and Ann Goldstein
Book list *Starred Review* The fourth and final volume of Ferrante's Neapolitan series originally conceived as a trilogy picks up shortly after the closing of Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (2014). Pursuing love and her writing career in a passionate fury in the late 1970s, Elena eventually lands on Lila's ceiling, occupying the small, neighborhood apartment in Naples above her friend's. Elena's return to hers and Lila's violent birthplace begins a period of calm, warmth, and stability uncommon in their friendship, yet, nonetheless, peripheral threads begin to fray. Beyond day-to-day dealings with their combined families, the women must contend with the continuous threats posed by life in their corrupt birthplace, a challenge they meet in quite different fashions. Although the eponymous child is of profound importance here, it's the disappearance revealed at the series' onset and to which Ferrante returns, after navigating the 40-plus-year span covered in the story, that will compel readers forward, puzzling over it and anticipating resolution. As Elena ages, struggling to understand her relationship to her books' success, she writes and we read, a level removed a story about story and its authorship. A friendship so reflective and yet so repellent, so truthfully plumbed, is a rare thing written. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Word of mouth launched this series, glowing reviews helped, and, eventually, a publishing phenomenon was born. The series' conclusion is a genuine literary event.--Bostrom, Annie Copyright 2015 Booklist From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission. Kirkus Inexorable seismic changesin society and in the lives of two female friendsmark the final volume of Ferrante's Neapolitan series. Elena and Lila, the emotionally entwined duo at the center of Ferrante's (Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, 2014, etc.) unsentimental examination of women's lives and relationships, advance through middle age and early old age (perhaps) in this calamitous denouement to their saga. The more fortunate Elena, an author who struggles to assert herself in the misogynistic world of 1970s and '80s Italy, is drawn back to Naples and its internecine bloodshed; Lila, who has stayed in the city of their youth, is at odds with its controlling families. Elena's "escape" and attempts at personal and familial fulfillment, on her own terms, hint at the changing roles of women in that era, but it's Lila's daily struggle in a Camorra-controlled neighborhood that illuminates the deep fractures within contemporary Italian society. The paths to self-determination taken by the lifelong friends merge and separate periodically as the demands of child-rearing, work, and community exert their forces. The far-reaching effects of a horrific blow to Lila's carefully maintained equilibrium resonate through much of the story and echo Ferrante's trademark themes of betrayal and loss. While avid devotees of the Neapolitan series will be gratified by the return of several characters from earlier installments, the need to cover ground in the final volume results in a telescoped delivery of some plot points. Elena's narrative, once again, never wavers in tone and confidently carries readers through the course of two lives, but the shadowy circumstances of those lives will invite rereading and reinterpretation. The enigmatic Ferrante, whose identity remains the subject of international literary gossip, has created a mythic portrait of a female friendship in the chthonian world of postwar Naples. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission. Library Journal This conclusion to Ferrante's epic four-volume "Neapolitan" series continues the portrayal of Lila and Elena over several decades, from the 1960s to 2002. Both women give birth to daughters, and Tina and Imma's shared upbringing exemplify the love as well as the troublesome aspects of their mothers' day-to-existence. With fierce honesty and emotion, sometimes showing anxiety and estrangement, Ferrante etches the tumultuous lives and loves of Lila and Elena, their children, members of their extended family, and their friends. The worth and quality of work, the cost to family life of a successful career, the complications of men and their needs, the value of formal education and writing-all are scrutinized in this study of the role of women today. Verdict Readers should tackle all the books in order (My Brilliant Friend; The Story of a New Name; Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay) to savor the fabulous writing and translation, get to know the memorable characters, and experience a masterpiece of storytelling with a true, living pulse. Very highly recommended, this series is destined to become a classic of Italian literature.-Lisa Rohrbaugh, Leetonia Community P.L., OH © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. (c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. |
