The Beach at Night

By Elena Ferrante and Mara Cerri

18M copies of Elena Ferrante's books sold worldwide

Left alone on the beach to fend for herself, a doll named Celina is having a terrible night. The Mean Beach Attendant of Sunset is trying to steal all her words, the Fire wants to burn her, and the Sea refuses to answer her prayers. Worst of all, she has been abandoned by her mamma, the little girl Mati, who now has a new kitten to play with. Between one misadventure and another, night turns to day, and when the sun rises Celina will see everything a little more clearly.

The Beach at Night is a short, moving, and mysterious tale for future and present readers of Ferrante’s beloved novels.

"Classic Elena for beginners and their Ferrante-fevered parents."—The Times

• Language: English
• Publisher: Europa Editions
• Release date: Nov 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781787700260

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 Beach at Night

[saresmoore · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a brief and delightfully mysterious little story about a little girl's doll who gets left on the beach. It's simple and short, but not a children's book, necessarily—surreal and quirky with a side of creepy.

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

This is a really charming little children's book with Ferrante's story supplemented by nice illustrations by Mara Cerri. I've never before read anything by Ferrante, and I have to confess that I didn't buy this one – I read it cover-to-cover sitting at a table at a Barnes & Noble. The story's ending isn't quite credible, but so what, it's sweet.It's modestly priced at $13 so I might buy it sometime. I've never before read anything by Ferrante, and I've got so much else on my plate that I doubt I ever will, but I did enjoy my quick read at B&N. Admirers of Ferrante might be disappointed if The Beach at Night is something that they don't expect from their author, but as a newcomer to Ferrante, I enjoyed it.