The Story of Lost Child by Elena Ferrante*****

Reading dates: 01-26 January 2020

Harrowing but very elegant conclusion to the Neapolitan quartet, with beautiful sentences and plot lines. Not all is resolved or completed, of course, which makes it all the more haunting. The plot lines have so much of the real lived experience, the internal dialogue is so accurate, Ferrante’s narrative have a strong sense of memoir, more than novel. Not that it matters; what is beautiful is beautiful. I am really glad that Guardian list with the best books piqued my interest and I followed my intuition. I haven’t read such gorgeous, interesting writing probably since the David Peace quartets (quartets again!) and I feel a little loss in that I have left the neighbourhood’s universe, Lila and Elena, behind. I hope to be back.