The Story of a New Name

The incomparable Elena and Lila, whose enduring relationship serves as the foundation for the Neapolitan Novels, were first introduced to readers in Elena Ferrante's 2012 book My Brilliant Friend. The second book in this series is titled The Story of a New Name. Ferrante establishes herself as one of Italy's most skilled storytellers with these volumes, which the New Yorker's James Wood called "large, captivating, amiably peopled... a beautiful and delicate tale of confluence and reversal." She describes in great detail two exceptional young ladies who are very much products of that neighbourhood and period, as well as a particular Naples neighbourhood from the late 1950s to the present. However, in the process, she has painted a wonderfully complex picture of friendship and established a universe in which readers will find themselves.

In The Story of a New Name, Elena pursues her education and her study of the world outside of the neighbourhood that she often finds confining, while Lila, who just got married, enters the family company. Love, resentment, family, independence, dedication, and most importantly, friendship: these are the conditions that both women experience throughout this stage of their lives. Lila seems to have been imprisoned by marriage, while Elena sometimes feels too much pressure to do well. However, the two young ladies have a deep and developing relationship that is essential to their emotional well-being and gives them courage to tackle obstacles in life. Elena Ferrante, the well-known author of The Days of Abandonment, offers readers a moving and universal tale of friendship and belonging in her Neapolitan Novels.