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The Lying Life of Adults
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Wikipedia article
'The Lying Life of Adults' is a novel by Elena Ferrante.
Synopsis
In Naples in the early 1990s, twelve-year-old Giovanna Trada overhears her father Andrea disparagingly liken her appearance to that of his estranged sister Vittoria. This sends Giovanna into a search for Vittoria on another side of Naples to discover the nature of the family's fallout.
Publication
The novel was first published in Italy in November 2019 by Edizioni e/o, published as part of their Dal Mondo series. An English translation by Ann Goldstein was scheduled to be published by Europa Editions on 9 June 2020, but was postponed to 1 September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The English translation debuted at number two on 'The New York Times' fiction best-seller list.
Reception
In its starred review, 'Kirkus Reviews' praised Goldstein's "fluid" translation and wrote, "Giovanna's nascent sexuality is more frankly explored than that of previous Ferrante protagonists".
'Publishers Weekly' called Giovanna a "winning character" but nonetheless wrote that the novel "feels minor in comparison to Ferrante's previous work".
A review in the 'New York Times' stated that the book "evokes for me all the ordinary, warring paradoxes of intimate life."
Television adaptation
In May 2020, Netflix announced it would be adapting 'The Lying Life of Adults' into a television series in collaboration with Italy's Fandango production company.
References
Category:2019 novels
Category:21st-century Italian novels
Category:Novels by Elena Ferrante
Category:Novels set in Naples
Category:Novels set in the 1990s
Category:Works postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
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