From Powells.com
Hot new releases and under-the-radar gems for adults and kids.
Staff Pick
Based on my love for Ferrante's Neopolitan Quartet, I'm waiting impatiently for this new offering. Again set in Naples, featuring class struggle and a young woman's coming-of-age, this promises to be classic Ferrante. Recommended By Kathi K., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Giovanna's pretty face is
changing, turning ugly, at least so her father thinks. Giovanna, he
says, looks more like her Aunt Vittoria every day. But can it be true?
Is she really changing? Is she turning into her Aunt Vittoria, a woman
she hardly knows but whom her mother and father clearly despise? Surely
there is a mirror somewhere in which she can see herself as she truly
is.
Giovanna is searching for her reflection in two kindred cities that
fear and detest one another: Naples of the heights, which assumes a mask
of refinement, and Naples of the depths, a place of excess and
vulgarity. She moves from one to the other in search of the truth, but
neither city seems to offer answers or escape.
Review
"Fans of Ferrante's first two Neapolitan novels...will especially revel in Giovanna's confessional, perceptive,
gut-wrenching, and often funny narration of what she calls her 'arduous
approach to the adult world.'" Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"A girl, a city, an inhospitable society: Ferrante's formula works again!" Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"Ferrante's ability to draw
in her readers remains unparalleled....The novel simmers with
overt rage toward parental deception, teachers' expectations and
society's impossible ideals of beauty and behavior." BookPage (Starred Review)
Synopsis
A NEW YORK TIMES & NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A BEST BOOK OF 2020
The Washington Post・O, The Oprah Magazine・TIME Magazine・Financial Times・Kirkus Reviews・Harper's Bazaar
A POWERFUL NEW NOVEL set in a divided Naples by ELENA FERRANTE, the New York Times best-selling author of My Brilliant Friend and The Lost Daughter. Soon to be a NETFLIX Original Series.
"There's no doubt the publication of The Lying Life of Adults] will be the literary event of the year."--ELLE Magazine
Giovanna's pretty face is changing, turning ugly, at least so her father thinks. Giovanna, he says, looks more like her Aunt Vittoria every day. But can it be true? Is she really changing? Is she turning into her Aunt Vittoria, a woman she hardly knows but whom her mother and father clearly despise? Surely there is a mirror somewhere in which she can see herself as she truly is.
Giovanna is searching for her reflection in two kindred cities that fear and detest one another: Naples of the heights, which assumes a mask of refinement, and Naples of the depths, a place of excess and vulgarity. She moves from one to the other in search of the truth, but neither city seems to offer answers or escape.
Named one of 2016's most influential people by TIME Magazine and frequently touted as a future Nobel Prize-winner, Elena Ferrante has become one of the world's most read and beloved writers. With this new novel about the transition from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, Ferrante proves once again that she deserves her many accolades. In The Lying Life of Adults, readers will discover another gripping, highly addictive, and totally unforgettable Neapolitan story.
Synopsis
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER. Soon to be a NETFLIX Original Series.
A POWERFUL NEW NOVEL set in a divided Naples by ELENA FERRANTE, the New York Times best-selling author of My Brilliant Friend and The Lost Daughter.
"There's no doubt the publication of The Lying Life of Adults] will be the literary event of the year."--ELLE Magazine
Giovanna's pretty face is changing, turning ugly, at least so her father thinks. Giovanna, he says, looks more like her Aunt Vittoria every day. But can it be true? Is she really changing? Is she turning into her Aunt Vittoria, a woman she hardly knows but whom her mother and father clearly despise? Surely there is a mirror somewhere in which she can see herself as she truly is.
Giovanna is searching for her reflection in two kindred cities that fear and detest one another: Naples of the heights, which assumes a mask of refinement, and Naples of the depths, a place of excess and vulgarity. She moves from one to the other in search of the truth, but neither city seems to offer answers or escape.
Named one of 2016's most influential people by TIME Magazine and frequently touted as a future Nobel Prize-winner, Elena Ferrante has become one of the world's most read and beloved writers. With this new novel about the transition from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, Ferrante proves once again that she deserves her many accolades. In The Lying Life of Adults, readers will discover another gripping, highly addictive, and totally unforgettable Neapolitan story.
About the Author
Elena Ferrante is the author of The Days of Abandonment (Europa, 2005), which was made into a film directed by Roberto Faenza, Troubling Love (Europa, 2006), adapted by Mario Martone, and The Lost Daughter (Europa, 2008), soon to be a film directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. She is also the author of Frantumaglia: A Writer's Journey (Europa, 2016) in which she recounts her experience as a novelist, and a children's picture book illustrated by Mara Cerri, The Beach at Night (Europa, 2016). The four volumes known as the "Neapolitan quartet" (My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child) were published in America by Europa between 2012 and 2015. The first season of the HBO series My Brilliant Friend, directed by Saverio Costanzo, premiered in 2018.
Ann Goldstein has translated into English all of Elena Ferrante's books, including the New York Times bestseller, The Story of the Lost Child,
which was shortlisted for the MAN Booker International Prize. She has
been honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship and is the recipient of the
PEN Renato Poggioli Translation Award. She lives in New York.