Thank you so much @europaeditionsuk for sending me a free copy of the new Elena Ferrante novel!! I was beyond excited when The Lying Life of Adults showed up at my door, as the Neapolitan quartet is one of my favourite series of all time! I first discovered Ferrante at uni when we did La Figlia Oscura (The Lost Daughter) during a contemporary Italian lit class and the dark, uneasy vein that runs through her work captivated me. It isn't dark like supernatural dark, or even blood and guts, just the dark side of humanity. The cruelty of everyday people and situations. And I love it.
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There wasn't as much 'edge' to The Lying Life of Adults as I initially expected, but it's still a gripping read. It's a coming-of-age story following Giovanna over three years, who is 13 at the start of the book. After overhearing a disparaging remark made by her own father about her, Giovanna begins her induction into the adult world, trying to navigate the innumerable lies which seem to dominate this sphere. Ferrante addresses themes such as sexuality and the turbulence of adolescence with her usual sharp eye.
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Italy has an obvious North/South divide, but it's interesting as in this book the family lives in Naples (in the South), and there is STILL a North/South divide. Giovanna and her family live in the 'nice part' of town, while her estranged aunt lives in the more southern part which is associated with poverty and crime. Giovanna ventures into this new territory as she forges a relationship with her aunt, moving away from the academic circles of her parents and their friends.
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I was also happy to see Ferrante playing with dialect again in this book. Obviously we only get to read things such as 'she said in dialect' etc. but the effect remains the same. Giovanna's family has banned the use of dialect in the home because they think it's vulgar and they should speak 'proper Italian'. Yet when her father grows angry, he slips into dialect. Likewise, when Giovanna visits her aunt's part of town, she's very aware of her 'hypercorrect Italian' when everyone around her is speaking dialect, something she tries to learn but can never quite master properly.
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I didn't think the second half was quite as gripping as the first half. At the beginning of the book, Giovanna wonders whether she even has a story to tell, describing her life thus far as a 'tangled knot'. Indeed, the 'plot' is vague and it's more of an intimate glimpse into three years of a young girl's messy life, filled with mistakes, anxieties, wonderings about sex. I found it compelling, and I think other Ferrante fans or fans of coming-of-age stories will too.