Join us

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Newsletter

Elena Ferrante

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay

Cover: Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay - Elena Ferrante

Elena Ferrante

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay

2014, pp. 400, e-Book
ISBN: 9781787700789
Translated by: Ann Goldstein
Region: Italy
Paper Paper Paper
£ 7.99
Where to buy Where to buy Where to buy

The book

Book Three of the Neapolitan Novels

Set in the late 1960s and the 1970s, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay continues the story of the feisty and rebellious Lila and her lifelong friend, the brilliant and bookish Elena. Lila, after separating from her husband, is living with her young son in a new neighbourhood of Naples and working at a local factory. Elena has left Naples, earned a degree from an elite college, and published a novel, all of which has opened the doors to a world of learned and fascinating interlocutors. The era, with its dramatic changes in sexual politics and social costumes, with its seemingly limitless number of new possibilities, is rendered with breathtaking vigour. This third Neapolitan Novel is not only a moving story of friendship but also a searing portrait of a rapidly changing world.

Since the publication of My Brilliant Friend, the first of the Neapolitan Novels, Elena Ferrante’s fame as one of today’s most compelling, insightful, and stylish authors has grown. She has gained admirers among authors, artists, and critics. But her most resounding success has undoubtedly been with readers, who have discovered in Ferrante a writer who speaks with great power and beauty of the mysteries of belonging, human relationships, love, family, and friendship.

The author

Elena Ferrante
Elena Ferrante is the author of The Days of Abandonment (Europa, 2005), Troubling Love (Europa, 2006), The Lost Daughter (Europa, 2008), and the four novels known as the Neapolitan Quartet (My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child) which were published by Europa Editions between 2012 and 2015. My Brilliant Friend, the HBO series directed by Saverio Costanzo, premiered in 2018. Ferrante is also the author of Frantumaglia: A Writer’s Journey (Europa, 2016), a children’s picture book illustrated by Mara Cerri, The Beach at Night (Europa, 2016), and a collection of personal essays illustrated by Andrea Ucini entitled Incidental Inventions (Europa, 2019). The Lost Daughter will be made into a feature film directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring Olivia Colman. Her most recent novel is The Lying Life of Adults (Europa, 2020). In the Margins, a collection of original essays on reading and writing, was published by Europa in 2022.

Reviews

Books by region

  • Cover: The Burning Origin - Daniele Mencarelli

    Daniele Mencarelli

    The Burning Origin

    2025, pp. 250, £ 14.99
    A searing story about homecoming, set in Rome
  • Cover: The Feeling Of Iron - Giaime Alonge

    Giaime Alonge

    The Feeling Of Iron

    2025, pp. 300, £ 9.99
    A gripping historical thriller that bridges the horrors of World War II and the geopolitical complexities of the 1980s
  • Cover: The City of the Living - Nicola Lagioia

    Nicola Lagioia

    The City of the Living

    2025, pp. 456, £ 9.99
    A spellbinding investigation of one of the most vicious crimes in recent Italian history and a journey into the darkest corners of Rome and of the...
  • Cover: The Brittle Age - Donatella Di Pietrantonio

    Donatella Di Pietrantonio

    The Brittle Age

    2025, pp. 192, £ 14.99
    A powerful mother-and-daughter story, a profound exploration of human fragility, and of the haunting shadows of the past
  • Cover: The Bishop's Villa - Sacha Naspini

    Sacha Naspini

    The Bishop's Villa

    2025, pp. 220, £ 14.99
    A WWII story of love, redemption, and resistance.
  • Cover: The House of Gazes - Daniele Mencarelli

    Daniele Mencarelli

    The House of Gazes

    2024, pp. 224, £ 14.99
    A powerful coming-of-age story about loss, identity, and rebirth.

More suggestions

  • Cover: The Burning Origin - Daniele Mencarelli

    Daniele Mencarelli

    The Burning Origin

    2025, pp. 250, £ 14.99
    A searing story about homecoming, set in Rome
  • Cover: The Woman Dies - Aoko Matsuda

    Aoko Matsuda

    The Woman Dies

    2025, pp. 200, £ 14.99
    Feminist tales from Japan that blend humour, surrealism, and sharp societal critique, by the acclaimed author of Where the Wild Ladies Are
  • Cover: Mona’s Eyes - Thomas Schlesser

    Thomas Schlesser

    Mona’s Eyes

    2025, pp. 300, £ 18.99
    The sensational French novel about love and beauty that has taken the world by storm
  • Cover: The Imagined Life - Andrew Porter

    Andrew Porter

    The Imagined Life

    2025, pp. 288, £ 16.99
    A taut and elegiac novel that follows a man determined to uncover the truth about the father who vanished from his life
  • Cover: Barbara Isn’t Dying - Alina Bronsky

    Alina Bronsky

    Barbara Isn’t Dying

    2025, pp. 184, £ 9.99
    A bittersweet and hilarious novel about a marriage whose decades-old routine is suddenly upended.
  • Cover: Vulture - Phoebe Greenwood

    Phoebe Greenwood

    Vulture

    2025, pp. 300, £ 16.99
    A gripping, no-holds-barred tale of war journalism and its deadly, darkly funny pitfalls