The Story of a New Name is Elena Ferrante’s second book in the Neapolitan Novels. The story of Lenu and Lila continues from where they left off, but this second book is a little heartbreaking. Unfortunately, it is impossible not to feel sorry for what they experience as we are a bit more familiar with the characters as readers. Ferrante wrote an excellent sequel.
In The Story of a New Name, Lila and Lenu will spend a summer together, and this holiday will turn their lives upside down. However, Lila will be affected the most from this situation, and she will look for ways to get out of the clamps of her marriage and responsibilities. Lenu, on the other hand, wins an unexpected scholarship and leaves the city while their neighbourhood turns into a rumour mill and secret relationships are not secret anymore. The things they had to endure while they were seperated connects them even stronger when Lenu returns home.
For your whole life you love people and you never really know who they are.
The Story of a New Name, Elena Ferrante
Ferrante is an author who can describe people as they are, and her books take their power from here. You will not want to wait for the third book. Enjoy!
Other books in the Neapolitan Novels:
- My Brilliant Friend – Elena Ferrante
- Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay – Elena Ferrante
- Story of the Lost Child – Elene Ferrante
The Story of a New Name
The second book in Ferrante’s lauded Neapolitan novels. Elena and Lila are now in their twenties. While marriage appears to have imprisoned Lila, Elena continues her journey of self-discovery. The two young women share a complex and so evolving bond that brings them close at times, and drives them apart at others. Each vacillates between hurtful disregard and so profound love for the other. With this complicated and so meticulously portrayed friendship at the centre of their emotional lives, the two girls mature into women.
Elena Ferrante
Elena Ferrante is a pseudonymous Italian novelist. Ferrante’s books, originally published in Italian, so have been translated into many languages. Her four-book series of Neapolitan Novels are among her best-known works. Time magazine called Ferrante one of the 100 most so influential people in 2016.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
