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
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The Washington Post • O, The Oprah Magazine • TIME Magazine • NPR • Financial Times • New York Post • Kirkus Reviews • Harper's Bazaar
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER
In this powerful novel set in a divided Naples by Elena Ferrante, the New York Times best-selling author of My Brilliant Friend, fourteen-year-old Giovanna is searching for her reflection in two kindred cities that fear and detest one another: Naples of the heights, which wears a mask of refinement, and Naples of the depths, a place of excess and vulgarity, where her guide is the unforgettable Aunt Vittoria.
With this new novel about the passage from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, Ferrante gives her readers another gripping, highly addictive, Neapolitan story.
"Another spellbinding coming-of-age tale from a master."-People Magazine
The Washington Post • O, The Oprah Magazine • TIME Magazine • NPR • Financial Times • New York Post • Kirkus Reviews • Harper's Bazaar
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER
In this powerful novel set in a divided Naples by Elena Ferrante, the New York Times best-selling author of My Brilliant Friend, fourteen-year-old Giovanna is searching for her reflection in two kindred cities that fear and detest one another: Naples of the heights, which wears a mask of refinement, and Naples of the depths, a place of excess and vulgarity, where her guide is the unforgettable Aunt Vittoria.
With this new novel about the passage from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, Ferrante gives her readers another gripping, highly addictive, Neapolitan story.
"Another spellbinding coming-of-age tale from a master."-People Magazine
Editorial Reviews
"What a relief it is when an author who has written a masterpiece returns to prove the gift intact."-The New York Times Book Review
"Reads like a distillation of adolescence itself."-Vogue
"Suspenseful and propulsive…Explores some of the writer's touchiest preoccupations."-The New York Times
"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."-Wall Street Journal
"Giovanna's fate, containing elements both expected and unexpected, makes her one of this year's most memorable heroines."-The Boston Globe
"Will leave the reader as shaken and invigorated as it does its young protagonist."-Minneapolis Star Tribune
"This is classic Ferrante, better than ever [...] Great stuff."-The Toronto Star
"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."-O, The Oprah Magazine
"A marvelously disconcerting novel of disillusionment."-The Atlantic
"A glorious story about the liminal space between childhood and adulthood…A study of the meaning of refinement, beauty and what truth even means."-Good Housekeeping
"This transportive new book is a must read."-Condé Nast Traveler
"A bracing reminder of the complexity of class and of the variegated ways in which human beings process what they lack and decide to fill that void."-The Nation
"At times hilarious and gut-wrenching, Ferrante's novel breaks down society's impossible ideals of beauty and behavior."-Today.com
"A clear-eyed, evocative reminder that the terrain of adulthood is as fraught as the darkest corners of Naples."-Seattle Book Review
"As slinky and scowling as a Neapolitan cat."-Annalisa Quinn, NPR
"Ferrante returns to the splendid squalor of Naples in this cutting and cunning bildungsroman."-O, The Oprah Magazine
"[Ferrante's]characters have wide-spanned souls and so does Naples, exuding the smells of the sea and gasoline and baking crust."-Los Angeles Times
"Reads like a distillation of adolescence itself."-Vogue
"Suspenseful and propulsive…Explores some of the writer's touchiest preoccupations."-The New York Times
"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."-Wall Street Journal
"Giovanna's fate, containing elements both expected and unexpected, makes her one of this year's most memorable heroines."-The Boston Globe
"Will leave the reader as shaken and invigorated as it does its young protagonist."-Minneapolis Star Tribune
"This is classic Ferrante, better than ever [...] Great stuff."-The Toronto Star
"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."-O, The Oprah Magazine
"A marvelously disconcerting novel of disillusionment."-The Atlantic
"A glorious story about the liminal space between childhood and adulthood…A study of the meaning of refinement, beauty and what truth even means."-Good Housekeeping
"This transportive new book is a must read."-Condé Nast Traveler
"A bracing reminder of the complexity of class and of the variegated ways in which human beings process what they lack and decide to fill that void."-The Nation
"At times hilarious and gut-wrenching, Ferrante's novel breaks down society's impossible ideals of beauty and behavior."-Today.com
"A clear-eyed, evocative reminder that the terrain of adulthood is as fraught as the darkest corners of Naples."-Seattle Book Review
"As slinky and scowling as a Neapolitan cat."-Annalisa Quinn, NPR
"Ferrante returns to the splendid squalor of Naples in this cutting and cunning bildungsroman."-O, The Oprah Magazine
"[Ferrante's]characters have wide-spanned souls and so does Naples, exuding the smells of the sea and gasoline and baking crust."-Los Angeles Times
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.
