Genre Fiction
![Elena Ferrante - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B00JEUV7C2.jpg)
The Lying Life of Adults: A Novel
A NEW YORK TIMES & NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A BEST BOOK OF 2020
The Washington Post・O, The Oprah Magazine・TIME Magazine・NPR・People Magazine・The New York Times Critics・The Guardian・Electric Literature・Financial Times・Times UK・Irish Times・New York Post・Kirkus Reviews・Toronto Star・The Globe and Mail・Harper's Bazaar・Vogue UK・The Arts Desk
A POWERFUL NEW NOVEL set in a divided Naples by ELENA FERRANTE, the New York Times best-selling author of My Brilliant Friend and The Lost Daughter. Soon to be a NETFLIX Original Series.
"Another spellbinding coming-of-age tale from a master."-People Magazine, Top 10 Books of 2020
Giovanna's pretty face is changing, turning ugly, at least so her father thinks. Giovanna, he says, looks more like her Aunt Vittoria every day. But can it be true? Is she really changing? Is she turning into her Aunt Vittoria, a woman she hardly knows but whom her mother and father clearly despise? Surely there is a mirror somewhere in which she can see herself as she truly is.
Giovanna is searching for her reflection in two kindred cities that fear and detest one another: Naples of the heights, which assumes a mask of refinement, and Naples of the depths, a place of excess and vulgarity. She moves from one to the other in search of the truth, but neither city seems to offer answers or escape.
Named one of 2016's most influential people by TIME Magazine and frequently touted as a future Nobel Prize-winner, Elena Ferrante has become one of the world's most read and beloved writers. With this new novel about the transition from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, Ferrante proves once again that she deserves her many accolades. In The Lying Life of Adults, readers will discover another gripping, highly addictive, and totally unforgettable Neapolitan story.
"There's no doubt [the publication of The Lying Life of Adults] will be the literary event of the year."-ELLE Magazine
A BEST BOOK OF 2020
The Washington Post・O, The Oprah Magazine・TIME Magazine・NPR・People Magazine・The New York Times Critics・The Guardian・Electric Literature・Financial Times・Times UK・Irish Times・New York Post・Kirkus Reviews・Toronto Star・The Globe and Mail・Harper's Bazaar・Vogue UK・The Arts Desk
A POWERFUL NEW NOVEL set in a divided Naples by ELENA FERRANTE, the New York Times best-selling author of My Brilliant Friend and The Lost Daughter. Soon to be a NETFLIX Original Series.
"Another spellbinding coming-of-age tale from a master."-People Magazine, Top 10 Books of 2020
Giovanna's pretty face is changing, turning ugly, at least so her father thinks. Giovanna, he says, looks more like her Aunt Vittoria every day. But can it be true? Is she really changing? Is she turning into her Aunt Vittoria, a woman she hardly knows but whom her mother and father clearly despise? Surely there is a mirror somewhere in which she can see herself as she truly is.
Giovanna is searching for her reflection in two kindred cities that fear and detest one another: Naples of the heights, which assumes a mask of refinement, and Naples of the depths, a place of excess and vulgarity. She moves from one to the other in search of the truth, but neither city seems to offer answers or escape.
Named one of 2016's most influential people by TIME Magazine and frequently touted as a future Nobel Prize-winner, Elena Ferrante has become one of the world's most read and beloved writers. With this new novel about the transition from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, Ferrante proves once again that she deserves her many accolades. In The Lying Life of Adults, readers will discover another gripping, highly addictive, and totally unforgettable Neapolitan story.
"There's no doubt [the publication of The Lying Life of Adults] will be the literary event of the year."-ELLE Magazine
Editorial Reviews
★ "A girl, a city, an inhospitable society: Ferrante's formula works again!"-Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
★ "Ferrante's ability to draw in her readers remains unparalleled. [ . . . ] The novel simmers with overt rage toward parental deception, teachers' expectations and society's impossible ideals of beauty and behavior."-BookPage (Starred Review)
★ "Fans of Ferrante's first two Neapolitan novels, My Brilliant Friend (2012) and The Story of a New Name (2013), will especially revel in Giovanna's confessional, perceptive, gut-wrenching, and often funny narration of what she calls her ‘arduous approach to the adult world.'"-Booklist (Starred Review)
"What a relief it is when an author who has written a masterpiece returns to prove the gift intact."-Dayna Tortorici, The New York Times Book Review
"[The Lying Life of Adults] is suspenseful and propulsive; in style and theme, a sibling to [Ferrante's] previous books. But it's also a more vulnerable performance, less tightly woven and deliberately plotted, even turning uncharacteristically jagged at points as it explores some of the writer's touchiest preoccupations."-Parul Sehgal, The New York Times
"In The Lying Life of Adults, Ms. Ferrante once again, with undiminished skill and audacity, creates an emotional force field that has at its heart a young girl on the brink of womanhood."-Anna Mundow, Wall Street Journal
"The Lying Life of Adults affirms that Ferrante is an oracle among authors, writing literary epics as illuminating as origin myths, explaining us to ourselves."-Claire Luchette, O, The Oprah Magazine
"Ferrante is a specialist in composure: the drama of achieving, losing, feigning, and regaining composure is central to her work."-Elaine Blair, New York Review of Books
"Nowhere else, as much as in The Lying Life of Adults, do we see Ferrante's splendidly harsh laws of physics so clearly laid out. Ugliness may hurt, but it is a hurt that strikes clean and true; ugliness may not be pretty, but sometimes it is unbearably beautiful."-Sarah Chihaya, Los Angeles Review of Books
"Ferrante's signature frankness about sex and the unruly female body exist alongside reflections on the unreliable stories we share about ourselves."-Tomi Obaro, BuzzFeed
"The Lying Life of Adults is slinky and scowling as a Neapolitan cat [ . . . ] Gentility, manners and even ideals have no power over sex, which is for Ferrante's characters a...
★ "Ferrante's ability to draw in her readers remains unparalleled. [ . . . ] The novel simmers with overt rage toward parental deception, teachers' expectations and society's impossible ideals of beauty and behavior."-BookPage (Starred Review)
★ "Fans of Ferrante's first two Neapolitan novels, My Brilliant Friend (2012) and The Story of a New Name (2013), will especially revel in Giovanna's confessional, perceptive, gut-wrenching, and often funny narration of what she calls her ‘arduous approach to the adult world.'"-Booklist (Starred Review)
"What a relief it is when an author who has written a masterpiece returns to prove the gift intact."-Dayna Tortorici, The New York Times Book Review
"[The Lying Life of Adults] is suspenseful and propulsive; in style and theme, a sibling to [Ferrante's] previous books. But it's also a more vulnerable performance, less tightly woven and deliberately plotted, even turning uncharacteristically jagged at points as it explores some of the writer's touchiest preoccupations."-Parul Sehgal, The New York Times
"In The Lying Life of Adults, Ms. Ferrante once again, with undiminished skill and audacity, creates an emotional force field that has at its heart a young girl on the brink of womanhood."-Anna Mundow, Wall Street Journal
"The Lying Life of Adults affirms that Ferrante is an oracle among authors, writing literary epics as illuminating as origin myths, explaining us to ourselves."-Claire Luchette, O, The Oprah Magazine
"Ferrante is a specialist in composure: the drama of achieving, losing, feigning, and regaining composure is central to her work."-Elaine Blair, New York Review of Books
"Nowhere else, as much as in The Lying Life of Adults, do we see Ferrante's splendidly harsh laws of physics so clearly laid out. Ugliness may hurt, but it is a hurt that strikes clean and true; ugliness may not be pretty, but sometimes it is unbearably beautiful."-Sarah Chihaya, Los Angeles Review of Books
"Ferrante's signature frankness about sex and the unruly female body exist alongside reflections on the unreliable stories we share about ourselves."-Tomi Obaro, BuzzFeed
"The Lying Life of Adults is slinky and scowling as a Neapolitan cat [ . . . ] Gentility, manners and even ideals have no power over sex, which is for Ferrante's characters a...
Readers Top Reviews
KS1415victoriaBryony
So disappointed, couldn't wait to read it, but found it petty, and the bracelet motif (it is a feature of Brilliant) so annoying. I can't imagine how anyone who enjoyed the quartet can give this a good review. The BBC did a good abridged version that gets you through it faster (I listened to the last half hour), so you can move on to something more rewarding.
switterbug/Betsey Va
Voice can make or break a novel; it is the essence of the story, in my humble opinion. Neapolitan author Elena Ferrante’s latest has a fulsome, assertive, witty, emotional, and resonant voice that sears through the narrative and rattled deliciously in my bones. Protagonist Giovanna (Gianni) is a 12 year-old pretty girl, daughter of educated parents. Her parents hobnob with wealthy and influential professors, scholars, and outspoken political dissidents, and have expected that Gianni follow in their footsteps. Giovanni worships her father, but she’s also a critical observer. Things at home begin to break down when she hears her refined father compare her to her Aunt Vittoria, the black sheep of her father, Andrea’s, family, a free spirit and someone Andrea calls “ugly.” When Gianni overhears that, she’s stunned, and immediately concludes that she must be ugly like Vittoria, and demands to meet her. THE LYING LIFE is a gem of a coming-of-age tale. Vittoria seems like a classic Borderline Personality Disorder with hints of an untreated breezy bipolar disorder on the side. Her potty mouth could set a sailor’s teeth on edge or make your grandmother faint. Yet, she evoked empathy in me, with her contrasting and unrealistic eternal love (more like lust) for a boyfriend who died twenty years ago, and who looked coarse and minimally educated. He was a cop and petty grifter with a wife and children, all who Vittoria has grown as close to as family. Vittoria is blatant, blunt, and confident of her perceptions. Gianni, after a shocking discovery regarding her parents, begins hanging out with her aunt, in the seedier part of Naples, and her aunt’s self-made and religious family. Gianni was raised by atheist parents, as were all their friends, who are largely academics. Gianni also meets the blue collar kin that her father rejected. Over the course of the following years, Gianni learns some harsh lessons and hears even harsher secrets about her father and mother. She decides her life is her own to do as she pleases, and becomes the rebellious daughter who shirks her tony friends and gets an education in sex, love, and its full-throated realities. Throughout it all, Giovanni’s voice is riveting, exuberant, and commanding. Themes of identity, betrayal, and all that a bildungsroman contains, in a tight ball of fire. Not one dull moment. Charismatic, engrossing, and bold, it will surely be one of my favorites of the year. “Lies, lies, adults forbid them and yet they tell so many.”
JudyLinda Echols
After the Neapolitan Quartet, my expectations were probably too high. There were some wonderful themes in this novel but in the end, not enough to really excite me.
Susan G.luke309DSol
This is so simplistic that it doesn't even qualify as adult fiction. Boring and undeveloped characters...stopped in the middle and read the last few pages. Surprise ! Just the same as the the first half.
