The Story of the Lost Child
Reeks: Neapolitan Novels
Elena Ferrante
- **The
- “stunning
- conclusion”
- to
- the
- bestselling
- saga
- of
- the
- fierce
- lifelong
- bond
- between
- two
- women,
- from
- a
- gritty
- Naples
- childhood
- through
- old
- age
- (Publishers
- Weekly,
- starred
- review).One
- of
- the
- New
- York
- Times’s
- 100
- Best
- Books
- of
- the
- 21st
- Century**The
- Story
- of
- the
- Lost
- Child
- concludes
- the
- dazzling
- saga
- of
- two
- women,
- the
- brilliant,
- bookish
- Elena
- and
- the
- fiery,
- uncontainable
- Lila,
- who
- first
- met
- amid
- the
- shambles
- of
- postwar
- Italy.
- In
- this
- book,
- life’s
- great
- discoveries
- have
- been
- made;
- its
- vagaries
- and
- losses
- have
- been
- suffered.
- Through
- it
- all,
- the
- women’s
- friendship
- remains
- the
- gravitational
- center
- of
- their
- lives.Both
- women
- once
- fought
- to
- escape
- the
- neighborhood
- in
- which
- they
- grew
- up.
- Elena
- married,
- moved
- to
- Florence,
- started
- a
- family,
- and
- published
- several
- well-received
- books.
- But
- now,
- she
- has
- returned
- to
- Naples
- to
- be
- with
- the
- man
- she
- has
- always
- loved.
- Lila,
- on
- the
- other
- hand,
- never
- succeeded
- in
- freeing
- herself
- from
- Naples.
- She
- has
- become
- a
- successful
- entrepreneur,
- but
- her
- success
- draws
- her
- into
- closer
- proximity
- with
- the
- nepotism,
- chauvinism,
- and
- criminal
- violence
- that
- infect
- her
- neighborhood.
- Yet,
- somehow,
- this
- proximity
- to
- a
- world
- she
- has
- always
- rejected
- only
- brings
- her
- role
- as
- unacknowledged
- leader
- of
- that
- world
- into
- relief.“Lila
- is
- a
- magnificent
- character.”
- —The
- Atlantic“Everyone
- should
- read
- anything
- with
- Ferrante’s
- name
- on
- it.”
- —The
- Boston Globe
