Category Archives: Italy

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Book Review: The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante

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A look back (first published 24 September 2015): this book, the second of four, sustains the pace of the first – it’s a vivid read.

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The cover of Elena Ferrante's: The Story of a New Name The cover of Elena Ferrante’s: The Story of a New Name

The Story of a New Name is the second book of the Neapolitan Novels.  It’s raw and brilliant, with a light that shines unblinking on its characters

Naples has always hung its washing to catch the air – it’s a city that knows its secrets … and so does Elena Ferrante.  In her novels she packs the unhidden into private lives and passes it on to us.

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Ancient Stabiae and its villas, once so luxurious, and then ….

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A look back (first published 8 September 2015): there was a sense of being slightly apart from the ‘real world’ at these two villas, of being caught between the ‘was’ and the ‘is’. They felt tranquil., dormant.

thephraser's avatarThe Phraser

Looking over the top of the Villa Arianna in Stabiae towards Vesuvius Looking over the top of the Villa Arianna in Stabiae towards Vesuvius

We stand in a mid-day drowse, like the citizens of ancient Rome must have stood – the sun is warm; the sea glistens; and there is the distant rise and fall of bells.  Behind us roll green hills and to our front, the double-backed outline of Vesuvius steals the horizon.

So peaceful … yet it never has been, and still is not.  There remains a threat below the surface.

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Book Review: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

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A look back (first published on 30 August 2015): since writing this review I’ve read all four of the Neapolitan Novels – none of them disappointed.

thephraser's avatarThe Phraser

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

This book stuck in my hands – it followed me from the outskirts of Naples, to Pozzuoli and then to a small boat anchored off the island of Procida.  I didn’t want to put it down.

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