Named as no.1 in the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century by the New York Times.

From one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors, comes this ravishing and generous-hearted novel about a friendship that lasts a lifetime.

The story of Elena and Lila begins in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant neighbourhood on the outskirts of Naples. Growing up on these tough streets the two girls learn to rely on each other ahead of anyone or anything else, as their friendship, beautifully and meticulously rendered, becomes a not always perfect shelter from hardship.

Ferrante has created a memorable portrait of two women, but My Brilliant Friend is also the story of a nation.

Through the lives of Elena and Lila, Ferrante gives her readers the story of a city and a country undergoing momentous change.

The debut novel from the author of My Brilliant Friend in a brand-new edition Following her mother's untimely death, Delia sets off on a breath-taking odyssey through the chaotic, suffocating streets of her native Naples in search of the truth about her family. Reality is buried in the fertile soil of memory, and Delia digs deep to reconcile the past with the mysterious events leading up to her mother's death. Spurred by a series of anonymous phone calls, Delia reconstructs her mother's final days and with every new discovery must face the possibility that her mother was not at all the person Delia believed her to be. To learn the truth and to untangle the knot of lies, passions and memories that bind mother and daughter, Delia must return to the Naples of her childhood.

“Nothing quite like this has ever been published before,” proclaimed The Guardian about the Neapolitan novels in 2014. Against the backdrop of a Naples that is as seductive as it is perilous and a world undergoing epochal change, Elena Ferrante tells the story of a lifelong friendship between two women with unmatched honesty and brilliance.

The Story of the Lost Child is the concluding volume in the dazzling saga of two women― the brilliant, bookish Elena, and the fiery, uncontainable Lila. Both are now adults, with husbands, lovers, aging parents, and children. Their friendship has been the gravitational center of their lives. Both women fought to escape the neighborhood in which they grew up―a prison of conformity, violence, and inviolable taboos. Elena married, moved to Florence, started a family, and published several well-received books. In this final novel she has returned to Naples, drawn back as if responding to the city’s obscure magnetism. Lila, on the other hand, could never free herself from the city of her birth. She has become a successful entrepreneur, but her success draws her into closer proximity with the nepotism, chauvinism, and criminal violence that infect the neighborhood. Proximity to the world she has always rejected only brings her role as its unacknowledged leader into relief. For Lila is unstoppable, unmanageable, unforgettable.

The four volumes in this series constitute a long remarkable story that readers will return to again and again, and each return will bring with it new revelations.

Set in the late 1960s and the 1970s, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay continues the story of the feisty and rebellious Lina and her lifelong friend, the brilliant and bookish Elena. Lina, after separating from her husband, is living with her young son in a new neighborhood of Naples and working at a local factory. Elena has left Naples, earned a degree from an elite college, and published a novel, all of which has opened the doors to a world of learned and fascinating interlocutors. The era, with its dramatic changes in sexual politics and social costumes, with its seemingly limitless number of new possibilities, is rendered with breathtaking vigor. This third Neapolitan Novel is not only a moving story of friendship but also a searing portrait of a rapidly changing world.

Since the publication of My Brilliant Friend, the first of the Neapolitan Novels, Elena Ferrante’s fame as one of today’s most compelling, insightful, and stylish authors has grown. She has gained admirers among authors, artists, and critics. But her most resounding success has undoubtedly been with readers, who have discovered in Ferrante a writer who speaks with great power and beauty of the mysteries of belonging, human relationships, love, family, and friendship.

A NEW EDITION TO TIE IN WITH THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED FILM DIRECTED BY MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, STARRING OLIVIA COLMAN, DAKOTA JOHNSON AND PAUL MESCAL From the international bestselling author of MY BRILLIANT FRIEND Leda is devoted to her work as an English teacher and to her two children. When her daughters leave home to be with their father in Canada, Leda anticipates a period of loneliness and longing. Instead, slightly embarrassed by the sensation, she feels liberated, as if her life has become lighter, easier. She decides to take a holiday by the sea, in a small coastal town in southern Italy. But after a few days of calm and quiet, things begin to take a menacing turn. Leda encounters a family whose brash presence proves unsettling, at times even threatening. When a small, apparently meaningless, event occurs, Leda is overwhelmed by memories of the difficult and unconventional choices she made as a mother and their consequences for herself and her family. The seemingly serene tale of a woman's pleasant rediscovery of herself soon becomes the story of a ferocious confrontation with an unsettled past. The Lost Daughter is a compelling and perceptive meditation on womanhood and motherhood, exploring the conflicting emotions that tie us to our children. 18M copies of Elena Ferrante's books sold worldwide

The Story of a New Name, the second book of the Neapolitan Quartet, picks up the story where My Brilliant Friend left off.

Lila has recently married and made her entrée into the family business; Elena, meanwhile, continues her studies and her exploration of the world beyond the neighbourhood that she so often finds stifling. Love, jealousy, family, freedom, commitment, and above all friendship: these are signs under which both women live out this phase in their stories. Marriage appears to have imprisoned Lila, and the pressure to excel is at times too much for Elena. Yet the two young women share a complex and evolving bond that is central to their emotional lives and is a source of strength in the face of life’s challenges.

In the Neapolitan Quartet, Elena Ferrante gives readers a poignant and universal story about friendship and belonging.

"AN INCENDIARY PORTRAIT OF THE VOLCANIC CURRENTS OF SEX AND BETRAYAL."-Mail on Sunday THE INTERNATIONAL No. 1 BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF MY BRILLIANT FRIEND A BBC2 Between The Covers Book Club Pick BRITISH BOOK AWARDS 2021 - SHORTLISTED FOR FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR Soon to be a NETFLIX original series 18M OF ELENA FERRANTE'S BOOKS SLOD WORLDWIDE Giovanna's pretty face has changed: it's turning into the face of an ugly, spiteful adolescent. But is she seeing things as they really are? Where must she look to find her true reflection and a life she can claim as her own? Giovanna's search leads her to two kindred cities that fear and detest one another: the Naples of the heights, which assumes a mask of refinement, and the Naples of the depths, a place of excess and vulgarity. Adrift, she vacillates between these two cities, falling into one then climbing back to the other. Set in a divided Naples, The Lying Life of Adults is a singular portrayal of the transition from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER "This is no amiable coming-of-age tale... the most intense writing about the experiences and interior life of a girl on the cusp of adulthood that I have ever read. It is brilliant."-The Financial Times "An astonishing, deeply moving tale."-The Guardian "Ferrante confronts female sexual awakening with such an absence of romantic enchantment it leaves you gasping."-The Daily Mail WHAT READERS ARE SAYING: "Brilliant as always."-Jan on Amazon "A tightly crafted and gripping story."-Maxwell on Goodreads "Excellent book. My only complaint was that it ended too soon!"-Mhairi on Amazon "I woke up eagerly looking forward to reading more of this novel every single day."-Violet on Goodreads "Fans of Elena Ferrante will not be disappointed."-Lesley on Amazon

"Elena Ferrante has established herself as the foremost writer in Italy - and the world." THE SUNDAY TIMES A delightful collection of original essays on reading and writing. From the internationally acclaimed author of My Brilliant Friend, The Lying Life of Adults, and The Lost Daughter, come four revelatory pieces offering rare insight into the author's formation as a writer and life as a reader. Ferrante warns us of the perils of "bad language"-historically alien to the truth of women-and advocates for a collective fusion of female talent as she brilliantly discourses on the work of her most beloved authors. A delightful collection of essays exploring reading and writing from the internationally acclaimed author of My Brilliant Friend and The Lying Life of Adults. Ferrante's writing has been described as compulsive (The Times) and astonishing (Guardian), her novels have sold millions and been translated into many languages as well as adapted for TV internationally.

A modern masterpiece from one of Italy's most acclaimed authors, this rich, intense, and generous-hearted story gives a meticulous portrait of two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship.

THE BREAK-OUT NOVEL BY THE INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF MY BRILLIANT FRIEND

Rarely have the foundations upon which our ideas of motherhood and womanhood rest been so candidly questioned. This compelling novel tells the story of one woman’s headlong descent into what she calls an “absence of sense” after being abandoned by her husband. Olga’s “days of abandonment” become a desperate, dangerous freefall into the darkest places of the soul as she roams the empty streets of a city that she has never learned to love. When she finds herself trapped inside the four walls of her apartment in the middle of a summer heat wave, Olga is forced to confront her ghosts, the potential loss of her own identity, and the possibility that life may never return to normal again.

18M copies of Elena Ferrante's books sold worldwide "This is my last column, after a year that has scared and inspired me." With these words, Elena Ferrante, the bestselling author of My Brilliant Friend, bid farewell to her year-long collaboration with the Guardian. For a full year she penned short pieces, the subjects of which were suggested by editors at the Guardian, turning the writing process into a kind of prolonged interlocution; the subjects ranged from first love to climate change, from enmity among women to the adaptation of her novels to film and TV. As she said in her final column: "I have written as an author of novels, taking on matters that are important to me and that-if I have the will and the time-I'd like to develop within real narrative mechanisms." Here, then, are the seeds of possible future novels, the ruminations of an internationally beloved author, and the abiding preoccupations of a writer who has been called "one of the great novelists of our time" (The New York Times). Gathered together for the first time and accompanied by an entirely new introduction written by Elena Ferrante and by Andrea Ucini's intelligent, witty, and beautiful illustrations, this is a must for all Ferrante fans.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL 2016 AND THE US 2016 BEST TRANSLATED BOOK AWARD

The fourth and final book of the internationally renowned and bestselling Neapolitan novels.

One of the major publishing events of 2015, this dazzling saga of two women - the brilliant Elena and the fiery, uncontainable Lila - firmly establishes the Neapolitan Quartet as perhaps the most significant work to date of the 21st century. Life's great discoveries have been made, its vagaries and losses suffered. But, throughout it all, their friendship remains the gravitational centre of their lives. The unmissable finale to a great literary achievement.

Elena Ferrante is the best-selling author of My Brilliant Friend, now an HBO original series. Collected here for the first time are the seeds of future novels, the timely reflections of this internationally beloved storyteller, the abiding preoccupations of a writer who has been called "one of the great novelists of our time" (New York Times). "This is my last column, after a year that has scared and inspired me . . . I have written as an author of novels, taking on matters that are important to me and that--if I have the will and the time--I'd like to develop within real narrative mechanisms."

With these words, Elena Ferrante bid farewell to her year-long collaboration with the Guardian newspaper. For a full year, she wrote weekly articles, the subjects of which had been suggested by Guardian editors, making the writing process a sort of prolonged interlocution. The subjects ranged from first love to climate change, from enmity among women to the experience of seeing her novels adapted for film and TV.

Translated by Ann Goldstein, the acclaimed translator of Ferrante's novels, and accompanied by Andrea Ucini's intelligent, witty, and beautiful illustrations, this volume is a must for all curious readers.

Left alone on the beach to fend for herself, a doll named Celina is having a terrible night. The Mean Beach Attendant of Sunset is trying to steal all her words, the Fire wants to burn her, and the Sea refuses to answer her prayers. Worst of all, she has been abandoned by her mamma, the little girl Mati, who now has a new kitten to play with. Between one misadventure and another, night turns to day, and when the sun rises Celina will see everything a little more clearly.

Leda, a middle-aged divorcee, is alone for the first time in years when her daughters leave home to live with their father. Her initial, unexpected sense of liberty turns quickly to ferocious introspection following a seemingly trivial occurrence. Ferrante's language is as fierce and finely tuned as ever - she treats her theme with an intense, candid tenacity. A complex, controlled and piercing meditation on motherhood and womanhood.

"AN INCENDIARY PORTRAIT OF THE VOLCANIC CURRENTS OF SEX AND BETRAYAL."-Mail on Sunday THE INTERNATIONAL No. 1 BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF MY BRILLIANT FRIEND A BBC2 Between The Covers Book Club Pick BRITISH BOOK AWARDS 2021 - SHORTLISTED FOR FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR Soon to be a NETFLIX original series 18M OF ELENA FERRANTE'S BOOKS SLOD WORLDWIDE Giovanna's pretty face has changed: it's turning into the face of an ugly, spiteful adolescent. But is she seeing things as they really are? Where must she look to find her true reflection and a life she can claim as her own? Giovanna's search leads her to two kindred cities that fear and detest one another: the Naples of the heights, which assumes a mask of refinement, and the Naples of the depths, a place of excess and vulgarity. Adrift, she vacillates between these two cities, falling into one then climbing back to the other. Set in a divided Naples, The Lying Life of Adults is a singular portrayal of the transition from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER "This is no amiable coming-of-age tale... the most intense writing about the experiences and interior life of a girl on the cusp of adulthood that I have ever read. It is brilliant."-The Financial Times "An astonishing, deeply moving tale."-The Guardian "Ferrante confronts female sexual awakening with such an absence of romantic enchantment it leaves you gasping."-The Daily Mail WHAT READERS ARE SAYING: "Brilliant as always."-Jan on Amazon "A tightly crafted and gripping story."-Maxwell on Goodreads "Excellent book. My only complaint was that it ended too soon!"-Mhairi on Amazon "I woke up eagerly looking forward to reading more of this novel every single day."-Violet on Goodreads "Fans of Elena Ferrante will not be disappointed."-Lesley on Amazon

In this third Neapolitan novel, Elena and Lila have become women. Both have attempted pushing against the walls of a prison that would have seen them living a life of misery, ignorance and submission. They are afloat on the great sea of opportunities that opened up during the1970s. Yet they are still very much bound to each other by a strong, unbreakable bond. From the bestselling author of My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante.