2016 Man Booker Longlist: The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante

Translated by Ann Goldstein

Eleana Ferrante was declared by The New York Times Book Review as “one of the great novelists of our time” on the merit of the first three books published by her in the series of Neapolitan Novels. Are you wondering what is Neapolitan?

Neapolitan means anything pertaining to Naples, Italy. The four novels- My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child; the final one completes the Neapolitan series. The series, according to Elena, should be read as one book and undoubtedly, it form a brilliant tale of the genre of bildungsroman-a coming of age story of two girls, Elena Greco and Rafaella Cerullo, as the narrative starts from their childhood set in the forsaken outskirts of Naples.

What the novel brings to the table apart from the complicated relationship between Elena and Lila, their meeting, conflicts, clashes and meeting again; is the question of authorship. Elena writes as herself, where the author becomes the first person narrator yet breaks the fourth wall by consciously thinking about whether she is personalising their experiences is fascinating as a narrative technique. This last instalment sees the two women going back to the neighbourhood from where they started.

Read the whole series, it is actually our story!

Book Details:-        

• About the Author

About Rit Chattapadhyay

A student of literature, I was born in Kolkata, now, reside at Howrah. I completed my high school from St.Thomas' Church School Howrah,and then went on to study English Honours at Asutosh College. Presently, I am pursuing my Masters in English Literature from Calcutta University. Not an avid reader from childhood. My experience with literature intensified in high school and Asutosh College. I love reading works of literature and I am an amateur poet myself. My poems mainly highlight the agonies of modern existence and the complications of love. Being a very opinionated person, I bear distinct opinions about what I read.