3. Elena Ferrante, The Story of the Lost ChildWith this last novel in her Neapolitan quartet, secretive literary phenomenon Elena Ferrante brings her revered fictional portrait of a ‘splendid and shadowy’ friendship between Elena and Lila to a close. Gracefully translated into English by Ann Goldstein, The Story of the Lost Child opens in 1976, when Elena returns to her hometown of Naples, leaving her husband behind in Florence. At this point in the story, she has a married lover, two daughters, and a string of published books. Her long-time rival Lila is the last person she wants to see, but soon the two are entwined once again in the violent and vibrant city of their youth. Ferrante’s enduring lesson: “Every intense relationship between human beings is full of traps.” (Credit: Europa Editions)
