Neapolitan Novels (series)

The Neapolitan Novels is a 4-part series by the Italian novelist Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein and published by Europa Editions (New York). They include the texts: My Brilliant Friend (2012), The Story of a New Name (2013), Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (2014), and The Story of the Lost Child (2015). The series has been characterized as a bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story. In an interview for the Harper's Magazine, Elena Ferrante stated that she considers the four books to be "a single novel", published serially for reasons of length and duration.

The series follows the lives of two perceptive and intelligent girls, Elena (sometimes called “Lenù”) Greco and Raffaella (“Lila”) Cerullo, from childhood to adulthood as they try to create lives for themselves amidst the violent and stultifying culture of their home– a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Italy. The novels are narrated by Elena Greco.

The series was adapted into a play by April De Angelis that opened at the Rose Theatre, Kingston in March 2017. The series is also being adapted into a 32-part television series titled The Neapolitan Novels.

The Neapolitan Novels begin in 2010 when the son of an old friend telephones the main character, a firm woman in her 60s named Elena. Elena's childhood friend Lila has disappeared, and her son is unable to find any trace of her. Elena recognizes this as something Lila in her later years has always talked about doing, and believes her disappearance to be a conscious action. In the spirit of their spiteful ways towards each other, Elena begins to put on paper everything she can remember about Lila, beginning in 1950s Naples.

Elena and Lila grow up in a poor neighborhood full of violence and strife, where no one expects them to go anywhere past elementary school in terms of education. Elena is diligent and captures the attention of one of the teachers. The bigger surprise is Lila though, who despite being a very troublesome girl is a prodigy who teaches herself to read and quickly earns the highest grades in the class, seemingly without trying. Elena is both fascinated and intimidated by her peer. She begins to push herself to keep up with Lila. For example, when Lila throws Elena's doll into a basement chute, Elena does the same to Lila's doll. When Lila goes to ask for them back from the local leader of the Camorra, Elena follows her though they are ultimately unable to retrieve them. The paths of the two girls diverge when Lila's parents refuse to pay for her to continue her schooling after elementary school while Elena's parents, after much pressure from a concerned teacher, agree. Elena first attends middle school, and then high school.

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