Paperbacks

ans of Elena Ferrante (author of the ) can cheer: she has written a stand-alone novel also set in Naples, (Europa Editions, trans Ann Goldstein, 322pp, £8.99). Kathryn Bromwich in the explained that the had a few reservations: ‘The story is compulsive, but the characters are more cartoonish than in the ...The writing can be overcooked – characters break off to talk about theology – and the metaphors can teeter into absurdity...Yet if you are a Ferrante fan, you cannot help but submit to find out whether the darkness of adult deceit and family feuds gives way to Neopolitan sunshine.’ Lara Feigel in the thought the book ‘astonishing’ and ‘deeply moving’.