The year Elena Ferrante sprang to attention – well, my attention, anyway – was also the year the Neapolitan quartet came to an end with The Story Of The Lost Child (published in September). What started as an intriguing portrait of female friendship became a compelling saga of the reality of women’s lives set against 60 years of Italian social and political history. Most remarkable of all, though, is the author's enduring anonymity; a sleight of hand which has seen her championed by high- and low-brow alike, and enabled her to sideswerve even the slightest Goldfinching.
