What can I say about these four books that hasn’t already been said?

Not much as it turns out.

Well, a certain amount of much-ness. They’re brilliant. They’re frustrating.

I read the first two voraciously, cover-to-cover, immersed in the texture of Elena Ferrante’s prose.  The last two I skimmed.

I waited for the structure of the story to emerge … then I remembered why I don’t read books in this genre very often.

With a certain amount of frustration, I uncharitably concluded at the end of the four books, that the story could’ve been done in two. Traditional ‘literature’ just isn’t my thing.

So why did I persevere?

I wanted to know how the story ended, which it didn’t, have an ending, I mean. And I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. Now I know.

If this genre is your thing, you’ll love the Neapolitan Novels, if not? Maybe like me you’ll appreciate them for what they are.

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More Toni Childs …