The Story of a New Name: Neapolitan Novels, Book Two

By Elena Ferrante

Soon to be an HBO series, the follow-up to My Brilliant Friend in the New York Times bestselling Neapolitan quartet about two friends growing up in post-war Italy is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted family epic by Italy’s most beloved and acclaimed writer, Elena Ferrante, “one of the great novelists of our time.” (Roxana Robinson, The New York Times)

In The Story of a New Name, Lila has recently married and made her enterée into the family business; Elena, meanwhile, continues her studies and her exploration of the world beyond the neighborhood that she so often finds stifling. Love, jealousy, family, freedom, commitment, and above all friendship: these are signs under which both women live out this phase in their stories. Marriage appears to have imprisoned Lila, and the pressure to excel is at times too much for Elena. Yet the two young women share a complex and evolving bond that is central to their emotional lives and is a source of strength in the face of life's challenges. In these Neapolitan Novels, Elena Ferrante, the acclaimed author of The Days of Abandonment, gives readers a poignant and universal story about friendship and belonging.

Ferrante is one of the world’s great storytellers. With the Neapolitan quartet she has given her readers an abundant, generous, and masterfully plotted page-turner that is also a stylish work of literary fiction destined to delight readers for many generations to come.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Sep 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781609451479

Elena Ferrante

Elena Ferrante is the author of The Days of Abandonment (Europa, 2005), Troubling Love (Europa, 2006), and The Lost Daughter (Europa, 2008), now a film directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, and Jessie Buckley. She is also the author of Incidental Inventions(Europa, 2019), illustrated by Andrea Ucini; Frantumaglia: A Writer’s Journey (Europa, 2016); and a children’s picture book illustrated by Mara Cerri, The Beach at Night (Europa, 2016). The four volumes known as the “Neapolitan novels” (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 by Europa Editions in English between 2012 and 2015. My Brilliant Friend, the HBO series directed by Saverio Costanzo, premiered in 2018 and is in its third season. Ferrante’s most recent novel is the instant New York Times bestseller, The Lying Life of Adults (Europa, 2020).

Reviews for The Story of a New Name

[wassilissa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mir hat der zweite Teil dieser Sizilien-Geschichte besser gefallen als der erste. Elena und Lila sind nun junge Frauen. Lila ist unglücklich mit Stefano verheiratet, Elena unglücklich in Nino verliebt. Es ist wirklich gut erzählt, wie sich die beiden entwickeln, als wären sie zwei Seiten einer Medaille. Was die eine tut, spiegelt die andere. Elene geht aber ihren intellektuellen Weg, während Lila trotz ihrer hohen Intelligenz immer mehr absteigt. Das Buch ist auf jeden Fall gut geschrieben und spannend.

[hbwiesbaden · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lila und Elena sind sechzehn Jahre alt, und sie sind verzweifelt. Lila hat noch am Tage ihrer Hochzeit erfahren, dass ihr Mann sie hintergeht – er macht Geschäfte mit den allseits verhassten Solara-Brüdern, den lokalen Camorristi. Für Lila, arm geboren und durch die Ehe schlagartig zu Geld und Ansehen gekommen, brechen leidvolle Zeiten an. Elena hingegen verliebt sich Hals über Kopf in einen jungen Studenten, doch der scheint nur mit ihren Gefühlen zu spielen. Sie ist eine regelrechte Vorzeigeschülerin geworden, muss aber feststellen, dass das, was sie sich mühsam erarbeitet hat, in ihrer neapolitanischen Welt kaum etwas gilt.Trotz all dieser Widrigkeiten beharren Lila und Elena immer weiter darauf, ihr Leben selbst zu bestimmen, auch wenn der Preis, den sie dafür zahlen müssen, bisweilen brutal ist. Woran die beiden jungen Frauen sich festhalten, ist ihre Freundschaft. Aber können sie einander wirklich vertrauen?Elena Ferrante hat einen Weltbestseller geschrieben. Ein Gipfelwerk der zeitgenössischen Literatur. Und einen Roman, den man erschüttert und begeistert liest!Quelle: amazon.de

[gbill_7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ferrante’s coming-of-age story, the second in her ‘Neapolitan Novels’ series, has a voice uniquely her own, and her writing is direct and honest. She also creates a couple of great characters at the center of the novel. Anyone who has had to overcome childhood adversity or an environment where academia and higher pursuits are not the norm will identify with Elena. In her case, it’s the chaotic world of a small, close-knit neighborhood in Naples, and a family that has never had anyone attend college. Her destructive, larger-than-life friend Lina, who marries early and finds herself in an abusive relationship, is also fascinating. Through her characters, Ferrante occasionally gives us insightful commentary on politics or literature, e.g. about America’s dropping of the atomic bomb at the end of WWII, or Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’, and I wish the book had just a teeny bit more of that sort of thing. At its worst, it’s a bit like a soap opera, with characters from the various families falling into various intrigues, but at its best, it’s riveting and a page-turner, and it’s easy to see why it’s so popular.

[alisony-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well, I'm delighted to report that I found the "second book" to be as good as the first, if not better. The reason for the speech marks is that I don't believe this to be a second book at all. In the normal sense, a second book would mean maybe picking up a decade or so on, or perhaps would play with time and propel the reader back to an earlier point in time. Ferrante, however, picks up without drawing breath from the exact same scene that book 1 left on.I therefore suspect we are being had, and that this is not a quartet of four novel but rather one big, ginormous, gargantuan mega novel that makes Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy look like a short story (this second book alone was 470 pages long). That being said, hurrah for big, ginormous, gargantuan mega novels when they're as good as this! I was once again immersed in the characters and the tense setting of the backstreets of Naples, and the pages flew by. Yet again the cover irked me, and my husband commented one morning without irony that it was a book that my Aunty Betty would probably enjoy. Aunty Betty is a spirited, much loved aunt of mine who reads, in my opinion, very poor quality romance novels that should never see the light of day. I told him he was mistaken and that this was 'literature' and not the type of book that Aunty Betty would ever read despite the cover, so he asked me to describe it to him. After I'd finished, he concluded "so it's a romance novel then".I have to say it got me thinking. I said sneeringly in my review of Book 1 that the cover made it look like I was reading Barbara Taylor Bradford novel, but is that really so far from the truth? Fantastic as this Neapolitan quartet is, is the truth perhaps that this is just chick lit at its best but we're too snobbish to think of it as that so we're convincing ourselves it's literary fiction?The jury is out in my head. However, I care less - whatever Ferrante is writing, I love it, and I can't wait to pick up the thread in Book 3. 4.5 stars - now where did I put that Danielle Steele book....

[ansate · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

THESE BOOKSsuch a great exploration of what friendship means and imposter syndrome and trying to keep up and little unspoken rivalries and how closeness changes but can still stay and how you can love someone but be IRRITATED TO DEATH by them

[nuigurumi-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hin- und hergerissen...… zwischen ihren Gefühlen und ihrer Freundschaft zu Lila ist nicht nur Lenù in diesem zweiten Band der neapolitanischen Saga, sondern hin-und hergerissen war auch ich beim Lesen und bin es jetzt beim Bewerten.Nachdem der erste Band mit einem Cliffhanger zu Lilas Hochzeit geendet hat, geht es nahtlos mit Lilas und Stefanos Hochzeitsreise weiter. Dann folgt der Ehe-Alltag, für den Lila absolut nicht geeignet ist, und Lenù lernt immer weiter, geht aufs Gymnasium, später zur Uni. Lila ist eifersüchtig auf Lenù, was zu einigen sehr hässlichen Szenen führt, aber selbst Lenù versteht irgendwann, wie schlecht es Lila in ihrer Ehe geht. In Lenùs Leben geht es weiterhin hauptsächlich darum, beim Lernen immer die Beste zu sein, da alles über Stipendien geht und sich in einer Welt zurechtzufinden, die weiter vom Rione entfernt ist, als sie es sich je vorgestellt hätte…Im Gegensatz zum ersten Band, der relativ dünn war, hat dieses Buch über 600 Seiten, was Fluch und Segen zugleich ist. Einerseits taucht man als Leser dadurch völlig ins Geschehen ein und hat wirklich das Gefühl, die beiden Frauen gut kennenzulernen; andererseits zieht die Autorin einige Dinge künstlich in die Länge und es gibt sehr viele Wiederholungen, vor allem was Lenùs Gedanken und Gemütszustand betrifft.Die Handlung an sich finde ich interessant und es ist sehr informativ die italienische Gesellschaft der 60er Jahre aus Lenùs und Lilas Sicht zu sehen. Manchmal gingen mir die beiden total auf die Nerven, wenn sie sich mal wieder monatelang ignoriert haben, aber dann gab es auch wieder sehr schöne Freundschaftsmomente.Ich bin definitiv nicht im Ferrante-Fieber und habe lange zwischen 3 und 4 Sternen geschwankt. Aber letztendlich habe ich mich für 4 Sterne entschieden, da es trotz aller Längen und Wiederholungen einige wunderschöne Stellen und Gedanken gibt und weil ich zugeben muss, dass das Buch eine ganz eigene besondere Atmosphäre hat, wie sie nur wenige Romane haben.

[ladyinblue-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Vom zweiten Teil bin ich richtig enttäuscht, er bleibt sprachlich und inhaltlich weit hinter "Meine geniale Freundin" zurück. Mir scheint auch die deutsche Übersetzung etwas hastig, lieblos, und für österreichische Leser und Leserinnen schwer verdaulich. Lektoriert wurde ebenfalls nicht gut, und dann noch dieser cliffhanger! So bleibt mir wohl keine Wahl, ich werde auch Band 3 dieser Schmonzette lesen müssen. Alternativ könnte man es verfilmen, dann wärs weniger anstrengend für mich.

[ar_bookbird · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oh yeah...I am now devouring #3!

[rosareads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful writing and translation!

[lkernagh · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Short Review:A book filled with teenage/ early 20-something angst, unrequited love and life struggles. Full Review:I have to start off this review by questioning the publisher's description that Lila and Elena are now in their twenties. The majority of the book takes place within 3 years of the wedding when the girls were only 16. By my simple math skills, that places the girls in their late teens, sliding into their early twenties for just the last 100 pages or so. A grip I wanted to get off my chest. Now for the more fulsome review.Picking up where the first book in the series left off, this story was rather surprising in the very adult situations these two young women (and their friends) experience. While Ferrante uses the situations in this story to examine the cultural and economic divide between northern and southern Italy, the focus of the story remains squarely with our two protagonists. The choices made by the two girls – both seeking ways to escape the suffering they see in the adult women of their families and neighbourhood – are not ones I would have made at their age (and especially not how Elana chooses to lose her virginity) but Ferrante is writing about a place and time that pre-dates me. She also writes with a purpose that does not include apologizing to her readers (especially things like the banality towards domestic violence – another symptom of place and time Ferrante is trying to communicate through her story). Overall, this story – and the series so far – would probably best appeal to readers who like to entrench themselves into the more minute details of the lives of the characters. For me, Ferrante’s clearly rendered story makes for easy listening while exercising. Best part of this story was the last 100 pages when the story clearly displays the sharp divide/ reversal of roles that has arisen in Elena and Lila’s friendship. That alone was enough for me to up my overall rating slightly and has led me to dip into the next book in the series.

[widsith_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I tore through this in a kind of furious curiosity, annoyed with myself for being so involved and annoyed with Ferrante for taking so long to do what she does. The plot, heavy on frustrated emotion, is drawn out with intense internal monologues and telenovela miscommunications – and yet the actual characters are so real, built with such psychological verisimilitude, that you are fascinated despite yourself. The effect is as though Doris Lessing spent a season guest-writing for Days of our Lives.I personally find Ferrante's writing unexciting; there is something a little laborious about the way she assembles her story, something flat about the way narrative events are introduced. ‘The day went smoothly, apart from two episodes that apparently had no repercussions,’ she'll write. ‘Here's the first.’ Clunk, clunk. Sometimes the translation does not help, either:I got mad, I said, “You are both mistaken: it's I who do what Lina wants, not the opposite.”This just sounds so strange, so formal, especially for someone who's supposed to be angry. That ‘it's I who do’ is one of those weird artefacts of translationese where rigid grammatical correctness is placed above any sense of naturalism. When I hit a line like this, I drop out of the story until I've rewritten it in my head (You're both wrong: I'm the one doing what Lina wants, not the other way round). But despite all this, the characterisation is excellent: you just believe everything she says about these people. It's a talent some musicians have, too. Tom Waits can sing ‘Sha la la la la la la la’ and make it sound like an insight. Lenù and Lina are insightful, three-dimensional people, however bland I sometimes find the prose.The characters' lifelikeness is perhaps the more surprising for how tightly constrained all their behaviour is by codes of convention. This is particularly true of the men, whose social obligations to be aggressive gave me faint but nevertheless exhausting flashbacks to the stupid expectations that groups of boys have about getting angry, about hitting people. And my upbringing was, by comparison, a ludicrously comfortable and middle-class one. Whereas in the Naples suburbi, the most innocuous comment about your sister or girlfriend can necessitate the extreme and immediate application of violence, thanks to what Ferrante describes as ‘the incredibly detailed male regulations’ dictating their lives.It almost feels against the grain to talk about how men are treated in Ferrante, but I found it fascinating. She's not in the least censorious about their propensity for violence; she depicts it very organically as something imposed on them by an external – social – force. When Stefano is beating his wife, Ferrante describes him astrying to assimilate fully an order that was coming to him from very far away, perhaps even from before he was born. The order was: be a man, Ste'…And she is punctilious about showing how these imperatives are fostered by the women just as much as by the other men. ‘That was what we said, we girls, when someone didn't care much about us: that he wasn't a man.’ When Lila explains away her bruises by saying that she fell, Ferrante's understanding of the scene is exquisite:She had used, in telling that lie, a sarcastic tone and they had all sarcastically believed her, especially the women, who knew what had to be said when the men who loved them and whom they loved beat them severely. Besides, there was no one in the neighborhood, especially of the female sex, who did not think that she had needed a good thrashing for a long time. So the beatings did not cause outrage, and in fact sympathy and respect for [her husband] increased—there was someone who knew how to be a man.The curious thing about that passage is that she ascribes to Lila a command of irony that she, Ferrante, does not display herself. It's interesting in light of a line from a review in The Australian which has been splashed all over the covers of these novels: ‘Imagine if Jane Austen got angry’. This has the air of someone reaching for the only famous female novelist they can think of; but anyway, my point is that Austen would not have needed to explain that Lila's tone or her friends' belief was ironic, because for Austen the irony was embedded in the narrative voice itself – and was the more deadly for it.In spite of all that stuff, let the record show that I have immediately started reading book three and that I hate myself.

[belgrade18 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I listened to the audio version of this story. Again, I can hardly express how well-written these books are, especially in the genre of female friendships. This particular installment of the tetralogy covers Elena's high school and college years. I actually find her friend Lina to be less interesting than the narrator Elena (AKA Lenu), even though Elena tries to elevate Lina at certain times. I think that as life goes on, it's okay to move on and stop worshiping friends who once meant a lot to us. And I got a little tired of the high-school-age temper tantrums and love intrigues, although the writer captures them perfectly. But I look forward to the future of the relationship in the next installment. Anyway, the writing is superb, and narration by Hillary Huber is outstanding- one of my favorite audio book narrators.

[breic-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not as good as book 1. I couldn't care about the characters, and they often seemed inauthentic. The writing, or the translation, wasn't as strong, and the chapters' pattern of mundane descriptions followed by a melodramatic bit of psychoanalysis grated on me. It gets better maybe 2/3 of the way through.

[adaorhell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

there is a lot i like about Lila. There is even more i like about Lenu. as it should be. Staring at Lila is too much like staring at the women i know, or used to be.

[rdra1962 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another novel in the "friendship series", I am somewhat baffled as to why I read them - I don't like the characters, there is much violence and little happiness, and yet once I started reading I could not stop!

[dchaikin_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

1. The Story of a New Name (Neapolitan #2) by Elena Ferrantetranslation from Italian by Ann Goldsteinpublished: 2012, translated 2013format: 456 page paperback (with annoying Europa cover above) acquired: Decemberread: Dec 22 - Jan 1rating: 5Nothing makes me feel more inadequate writing then trying to review a book I loved. Ferrante swept me away with book one more than any other book I can immediately remember, and certainly more than any of the other books I read last year. And she swept me again, here, with book 2. And I'm fully under her spell now, as I write. I'm in the midst of book 3.The first two books took some time to grab me (but not the third). This was odd with book 2 in that it starts off so intense. But Ferrante creates atmosphere slowly, it seems. I find myself resistant, and then fully entangled in the many strings of this world, and then I'm off floating away. It has this affect on critics too, who have to fight their intellectual insecurities for a split affect worth pondering. On the book's cover is a quote by [[John Freeman]], "Imagine if Jane Austin got angry and you'll have some idea of how explosive these works are.". Inside book three, there is quote by [[Jhumpa Lahiri]], "I read all the books in a state of immersion; I was totally enthralled. There was nothing else I wanted to do except follow the lives of Lila and Lenú to the end." Freeman's comment is wonderful, except of course it doesn't make sense. How was Austin not angry? And, anyway, I wouldn't put anger as the first emotion to apply to Ferrante, although it's there. He's trying to make a point the book is more than a story. There is a great deal here, but it's all incorporated within the feeling of the book. It's almost painful to separate them, to force something of concrete importance out, to acknowledge there is substance underneath and the magic.The books are the story of a cross but close friendship between Lila and Elena as they grow up together in Naples, Italy. This book takes place mainly in the 1960's within a vicious world of a working class neighborhood. Lila and her powerful, if conflicted, mind was pulled from school after elementary school. Elena, or Lenú, with the help of several lucky breaks, will become the only one in her neighborhood to attend a university. The meaning of education is a prominent theme - its advantages and opportunities, and its pretensions, its distance from practical life and complete uselessness in our intimacies. Love is another theme - particularly in its convoluted adolescent ways full of conflict, misunderstanding and outright backstabbing. Sometimes a full and multilayered story can be told in a paragraph. "{my boyfriend} Antonio's fixation was always the same: Sarratore's son {Nino}. He was afraid that I would talk to him, even that I would see him. Naturally, to prevent him from suffering, I concealed the fact that I ran into Nino entering school, coming out, in the corridors. Nothing particularly happened, at most we exchanged a nod of greeting and went on our way: I could have talked to my boyfriend about it without any problems if he had been a reasonable person. But Antonio was not reasonable and in truth I wasn't either. Although Nino gave me no encouragement, a mere glimpse of him left me distracted during class. His presence a few classrooms away—real, alive, better educated than the professors, and courageous, and disobedient—drained meaning from the teachers' lectures, the pages of books, the plans for marriage, the gas pump on the Stradone."The poverty in Naples is another theme. The city, particularly this one neighborhood and it's people and their hardships create a memorable atmosphere. "That day, instead, I saw clearly the mothers of the old neighborhood. They were nervous, they were acquiescent. They were silent, with tight lips and stooping shoulders, or they yelled terrible insults at the children who harassed them. Extremely thin, with hollow eyes and cheeks, or broad behinds, swollen ankles, heavy chests, they lugged shopping bags and small children who clung to their skirts and wanted to be picked up. And, good god, they were ten, at most twenty years older than me. Yet they appeared to have lost the feminine qualities that were so important to us girls and that we accentuated with clothes, with makeup. They had been consumed by the bodies of their husbands, fathers, brothers, whom they ultimately came to resemble, because of their labors or the arrival of old age, of illness."The main section of this book, which covers many years, takes place during one summer on the island of Ischia. It's worth pondering this choice as it's an island full of history and mythology. Around the time of Homer the island was a Greek trade colony, and archeological finds include Nestor's Cup, the earliest written reference to Homer. And this is the coast where Odysseus sailed down and met the witch, Circe, who turned his crew into animals. Although Circe wasn't likely on Ischia, I think the reference is relevant, as is her sister, the wildest of Greek mythological witches, Medea. And, finally, historically Ischia has been located as a possible landing site of Aeneas, shortly after abandoning Dido, his African queen lover. Unfortunately I haven't read the Aeneid yet, that's next; and yet Dido is most relevant to this story. Lenú even writes her college thesis on her. Relevant to Lila, of course, our supposed witch with penetrating mind, a ferocious intensity, an immediate awareness of any weakness. She is a chaotic force, in line with the mythological traditions.It's in Ischia, on the beaches, where the seventeen-year-old girls bask their summer away that Ferrante shows most clearly her skills in atmosphere. And it lingers, that atmosphere, well beyond the events, and I still have it in mind now. I loved how she could create similar scenes that felt radically different and each was gripping in its own way. Just a few touches and the reader is whisked away one day, and then the next tension is everywhere - same people, same setting. And yet they're on a beach, and nothing happens. Bolano's [The Third Reich] comes to mind, how the atmosphere, the sand and sea, make everything pleasant, even seem to encourage characters to provoke within the security of the remove from real world. One last comment. I'm a pretty placid reader, but Ferrante had me gasping out loud a few times in this book, just kind of shocked on the situations she constructs. The wild seas of accumulated tensions that make the simplest conversations bring in your full attention wasn't enough. She then takes this whole world and stirs it upside down. Obviously I recommend this one.

[carolfoisset · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The style of writing is interesting to me - at times it seems to be droning on about issues that are mundane and not important, but as the story develops I saw that those parts were needed to make me feel the full impact when other events happened. I did become engrossed with the characters, but found some of the parts that drug on difficult to get through. I will read the final 2 books!

[asxz-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I actually read the whole thing just today. Even more engaging and accessible than the first, I can't explain why this soapy tale of teenage girls in the 60s is so captivating. On the one hand it's feather-light, but it's also wise and clear-sighted about the capricious nature of young lovers. Joyous.

[streamsong_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is part two of a four part series about childhood friends Lila and Elena. As they have come of age, they have been become more and more competitive and have also been divided by their differing roles in life, and their love for the same man.Lila has chosen marriage to a well-to-do neighborhood boy. Elena has gone on to high school and then University. Nevertheless, their paths continue to cross and their relationships continue to be highly complex.Like the first book, this one also ends with a twist leading to a major cliffhanger.

[anitatally · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this book. The characters are complex and completely believable. I really care about them, their struggles, their futures. I can't wait to read the next one!

[starbox_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely stunningBy sally tarbox on 13 January 2017Format: Kindle EditionThis series of novels is absolutely mind-blowing; the lead characters so vividly drawn, that I'm absolutely hooked and am about to start the 3rd in the sequence.Following best friends - and rivals - studious narrator Elena and the equally brilliant Lila who was pulled out of school to follow a very different life - this volume takes us through Elena's years in upper school and university; her friend has married the wealthy Stefano, but can it be a happy union with the capricious and difficult Lila?Their lives ebb and flow; they draw close together then go for months without meeting. Elena has times of teenage depression when she almost abandons her studies, but goes on to succeed. And around them are the characters we met in the first volume; the Mafia type Solara brothers, Nino Sarratore, whom Elena adores from afar, and the numerous others in their part of Naples. There are marriages, engagements, affairs, and violent feuds.I can't recommend Elena Ferrante enough, this was unputdownable

[sarahebear · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"The Story of A New Name", Ferrante's second book in the Neapolitan quartet, continues where "My Brilliant Friend" left off, covering the characters' lives from their teens to early twenties. It is breathtakingly brilliant, beautifully written and ever endearing. Expect to be reading late into the evening. I can't wait to get stuck into book three. A must read!

[creighley_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The continuing saga of Elena and Lila who grew up together in post WWII Naples. Lila has recently married -at 16- and Elena continues with her studies. Elena continues her studies beyond her stifling neighborhood and Lila finds marriage to be stifling. It’s a captivating story of friendship and belonging and love and jealousy and freedom and commitment.

[mbmackay · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Book 2 of the series, and I'm still a big fan.This volume continues the style and the qualities of the first volume - great characters, wonderful atmospheric backgrounds and social milieu almost as an extra character.Read Aug 2016.

[amaraki-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant. Even better than the first book. It can be read on so many levels that it deserves a future reread as on the first pass I just devoured the book wanting to know how each character's story was going to play out (a bit like a soap opera).

[imperfectcj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am so glad that this second book focuses more on Elena and a little less on Lila than the first book does. Lila irritates me. Of course, you can't read about Elena without reading about Lila, but that's okay with me now that Elena is more of her own person.Elena is very perceptive and self-aware. Even as she's making mistakes, she seems aware that she's making a mistake, like when she is being brought into a confidence and realizes that she's being flattered. "But above all, I have to admit, what pleased me was the importance he attached to me," Elena writes. Watching triangulation taking place in real life, it seems that this kind of insight isn't necessarily common. This awareness could just be a product of Elena looking back on the past with more mature eyes, but either way, because all of this comes from Ferrante's imagination, the presence of this awareness and the fact that I think of Elena as a real person speaks to Ferrante's ability to develop rich, realistic characters.It's also possible that I like Elena because I relate to her. (Of course, I just said she was unusually perceptive, so you can make your own guesses about what opinion I have of myself.) At the end of chapter 106, Elena writes, "I would always be afraid: afraid of saying the wrong thing, of using an exaggerated tone, of dressing unsuitably, of revealing petty feelings, of not having interesting thoughts." I'm intimately acquainted with this kind of fear---the fear of doing wrong, speaking wrong, acting wrong, being wrong---and the fact that Elena also feels it endears her to me.I am enjoying this series very much, and I hope the next two books show up for me at the library in time for Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon next month.

[lara335 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Set in a poor area of Naples in the 1960s Lena & Lila are now teenagers, trapped in their small macho world. Lila follows money & confines herself in an abusive marriage, while Lena chains herself to studying and climbing out of the ghetto. Both characters annoyed me, but because Ferrante made me care for them and I was rooting for thrm to break out of their prisons and find self-fulfilment.These complex characters are so fully realised that this reads more like a searingly honest autobiography than a novel. Elena is jealous of her brighter, more vivacious friend, and masochistically stands back when Lila ‘steals’ the boy Elena has always loved.The lives here are a constant struggle, and I could have done with some more shafts of sunlight. Yet this was an astonishingly forensic dissection of the complexities of friendship and the struggle to navigate through and build a life for oneself given the restraints of class, gender, background & education.

[benjaminsiegel-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

They really spent too long at the beach. Picks up by the end, though!

[jolynne-4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am now, caught up in the world of Lila and Elena.

[bell7_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Elena and Lila's friendship story continues with Lila now married to Stefano and Elena finishing high school at the age of 16. The girls grow apart as Lila's marriage quickly becomes unhappy and Elena finds herself at once jealous of Lila and her ability to have sex in a marriage bed and feeling lucky that she herself can continue school.If I was surprised at how much I liked My Brilliant Friend when I read it a few months ago, I was just as surprised at how much more difficult to like I found the second book. It spans only a couple of years but felt very long and I found myself very frustrated with some of the behavior of the characters (not that it wasn't probably very true to Neopolitan life in the '60s) and the infighting that went on between "friends" and neighbors. It could just be that it took me over two weeks to complete, but I found myself just a little happier that I'd finished it than I did about the experience of reading it. I did, however, find myself curious enough about Lila and Elena to find out what happened in this book - I'm on the fence about continuing the series.