Elena Ferrante: writer of the unsayable

The Italian novelist's finely-nuanced work takes her characters to the limits of what can be articulated

At the beginning of The Story of a New Name, the second of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels, published in English last September by Europa Editions, Luna throws a box into the river. Luna, the narrator, is a writer, but the notebooks in the box belong to her friend, Lila, who left school aged 12, marrying a mere four years later.

She's the recipient of many prizes in her native Italy, but Google Ferrante and you'll find nothing more than a few fuzzy photos, and the barest of biographical detail. "I've published six books in 20 years." she said in a rare interview. "Isn't that sufficient?"

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