Elena Ferrante

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Elena Ferrante
Born Naples, Italy
Occupation Novelist
Genres literary fiction
Notable work(s) Days of Abandonment, My Brilliant Friend

Elena Ferrante (born in Naples, Italy) is an Italian novelist.

Ferrante is the author of a half dozen novels, the most celebrated of which is Days of Abandonment (originally published as I giorni dell'abbandono in 2002). Critics have praised her for her "devastating power as a novelist"[1] and for a style that is "pleasingly rigorous and sharply forthright."[2] The Boston Globe said, "Everyone should read anything with [Ferrante's] name on it." [3]

In 2012, Europa Editions began publication of Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels, a series about two perceptive and intelligent girls from Naples, who try to create lives for themselves amidst a violent and stultifying culture. John Freeman of The Australian said, "Imagine if Jane Austen got angry and you'll have some idea how explosive these works are."[4] The first novel in the series is My Brilliant Friend, which the Times Literary Supplement called, "Stunning" and "cinematic in the density of its detail.".[5] The second novel in the series is "The Story of a New Name."

Two of Ferrante's novels have been turned into films: Troubling Love (L'amore molesto) became the feature film Nasty Love directed by Mario Martone, while The Days of Abandonment (I giorni dell'abbandono) became a film of the same title directed by Roberto Faenza. In her forthcoming nonfiction book Fragments (La frantumaglia 2003), Ferrante speaks of her experiences as a writer.

Ferrante is extremely reclusive, and thus not much is known about her life or where she lives apart from what has appeared in written interviews and a few published letters.[6] She holds that "books, once they are written, have no need of their authors."[2]

Speculation about Ferrante's identity is rife on Italian internet boards, where it has been suggested that Ferrante may be a pen name for an established writer such as Domenico Starnone.[7]

Works

  • L'amore molesto (1999; English translation: Troubling Love, 2006)
  • I giorni dell'abbandono (2002; English translation: The Days of Abandonment, 2005)
  • La frantumaglia (2003; English translation Fragments, forthcoming)
  • La figlia oscura (2006; English translation: The Lost Daughter, 2008)
  • Ayaam Al-Hijraan (2007)
  • La spiaggia di notte (2007)
  • L'amica geniale (2011; English translation: My Brilliant Friend, 2012)
  • Storia del nuovo cognome L'amica geniale Volume 2 (2012; English translation: The Story of a New Name, 2013)

References

  1. ↑ V. Tirella, Joseph (2008). "Review of The Lost Daughter". wordswithoutborders.org. Retrieved April 29, 2011. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wood, James. "Women on the Verge: The Fiction of Elena Ferrante". newyorker.com. Retrieved January 29, 2013. 
  3. ↑ The Boston Globe, 'My Brilliant Friend,' by Elena Ferrante translated by Ann Goldstein
  4. ↑ The Australian, The sound and the fury of women's lives
  5. ↑ The Times Literary Supplement, Review
  6. ↑ "Ferrante Europaedition biography". europaeditions.com. Retrieved April 29, 2011. 
  7. ↑ "Blogged "The Lost Daughter" review". anokatony.wordpress.com. July 21, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2011. 

Further reading

  • Buonanno, Elda. La Frantumaglia: Elena Ferrante's "fragmented self". ProQuest/ UMI Dissertation Publishing, 2011. (Ph.D. thesis)
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