![]() ![]() ![]() And, in large part, that’s for good reason: though Ferrante’s characters are fictional, her Naples is based on truth. ![]() While Elena and Lila have their ups and downs, Naples is consistently depicted as a place of violence, poverty and social unrest. ![]() In The Story of the Lost Child -the series’ final installment, out Tuesday in the U.S.-she finally returns to her hometown, where life is as turbulent as ever. Though Elena escapes to a better life in other cities in the subsequent books, The Story of a New Name and Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, Naples maintains a gravitational pull on her. When My Brilliant Friend begins, Elena and Lila are primary school students, born near the end of World War II and growing up there in the 1950s and ’60s. But, while the relationship between protagonists Elena and Lila is the story’s heart, there’s another character exerting a strong influence on their lives: the city of Naples, which is portrayed in gritty detail throughout the novels. In the three years since My Brilliant Friend was first published in English, Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels have wooed many readers with their forceful elegance and unusual perspective on friendship. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |