Elena Ferrante
Elena Ferrante, the pseudonym of an anonymous Italian author, first gained acclaim after the publication of her debut novel, Troubling Love, in 1992. Ferrante has since become world-renowned for her works, which explore universal themes, such as passion and loyalty, identity and marginalization, gender roles, and ultimately, what it means to be a woman in today’s world.
Ferrante was born in Naples, Italy, in 1943, and has lived and worked in various cities throughout the country. She studied Classics and Education at the University of Naples, and began writing in the late 1970s. Ferrante initially wrote for a popular Italian women’s magazine, and though the majority of her work during this time remains largely unknown, her career as a novelist was made with the publication of Troubling Love.
Troubling Love tells the story of Delia, a young woman at a crossroads in life, who comes to terms with her already strained relationship with her mother after going to great lengths to find out the truth behind her mother’s mysterious past. Through Delia’s journey, Ferrante explores themes of love, family dynamics, and gender roles.
Ferrante’s success continued throughout the 1990s and early 2000s with the publication of several more novels, including Don’t Move (‘04) and The Days of Abandonment, (‘05). However, it was her 2012 novel, My Brilliant Friend, that truly solidified her reputation as an international literary phenomenon.
My Brilliant Friend, the first in a quartet of novels, tells the story of two teenage girls living in a “marginal, poor yet vibrant neighbourhood” of Naples. The spotlight of the novel is on small, isolated moments that ultimately construct a larger narrative of female friendship, a bond that is challenged by the changing forces of the memory, individual identities, and the neighbourhood’s dominant power dynamics.
Though each novel in the quartet stands alone as its own engaging and lively narrative, taken as a collective experience, Ferrante uses them to explore questions of identity, ambition and heartbreak. By exploring their inner lives – their secrets, fears, desires, and fears – she creates a vivid picture of the alienation, loneliness and confusion felt by so many women throughout time and across cultures.
The other three novels in the quartet, The Story of a New Name (‘13), Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (‘14), and The Story of the Lost Child (‘15) have met with similar success, garnering praise from readers and critics alike. The fourth and final book was adapted into an HBO miniseries in 2018, further cementing the author’s place as a globally recognized name in contemporary literature.
Ferrante has also written several short stories, as well as a collection of personal essays entitled Frantumaglia (published in 2016). In addition to her writings, she has also written a number of articles on a variety of topics, touching upon issues of feminism, everyday struggles and desires, and the complexities of modern life.
Despite the swirl of international attention surrounding her works and her own identity, Ferrante has remained enigmatically anonymous. His refusal to be seen or heard from in public has oddly only increased the interest of her work and identity, leaving readers intrigues and hungry for more. From the renowned Neapolitan Quartet to the more recent Frantumaglia, Ferrante’s works will no doubt continue to fascinate readers for years to come.
