The Story of a New Name
Ratings104
Average rating4.5
Friends Lila and Elena are now in their twenties. Marriage appears to have imprisoned Lila. Meanwhile, Elena continues her journey of self-discovery. The two young women share a complex and evolving bond that brings them close at times, and drives them apart at others. Each vacillates between hurtful disregard and profound love for the other. With this complicated and meticulously portrayed friendship at the center of their emotional lives, the two girls mature into women, paying the cruel price that this passage exacts.
--back cover
Series
Featured Series
4 primary books#2 in L’amica geniale
L’amica geniale is a 4-book series with 4 primary works first released in 2011 with contributions by Elena Ferrante.
Reviews
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In the event that I ever get my fantasy career as a literary critic off the ground, I'm calling dibs on comparing this book and Piketty's Capital.
I'm attached to this story of Elena and Lila just as if I were watching it unfold on an HBO series. As soon as I finished this second installment, I picked up the next to keep the story going. Deep and powerfully-drawn characters that move through the setting of Naples and other cities of Italy in the middle to late 1960s, with a strong theme of poverty and social justice as a backdrop, have made this unfamiliar place and time real to me.
I've enjoyed diving deep into Elena's character and her striving with academic and intellectual goals, while struggling against “imposter syndrome”. She is succeeding in this strange academic world, but her inner critic constantly shoots her down with harsh judgments. I'm inspired by her devotion to learning, but I also recognize the real risk she faces as she tries to step out of her family's known world. I love the way this author can make that conflict so concrete in this book.
Looking forward to continuing the story in the third book, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay.
