A Beginner’s Guide to Elena Ferrante

A Beginner’s Guide to Elena Ferrante

Joumana KhatibReading in Brooklyn

My Brilliant Friend

If you’re completely new to Ferrante, start here, with the first of her four Neapolitan novels. They trace a lifelong, complex friendship between Lila and Lenù.

A Beginner’s Guide to Elena Ferrante

Joumana KhatibReading in Brooklyn

The Lost Daughter

A middle-aged woman’s self-discovery is tainted by her conflicted emotions about motherhood. (Bonus: Maggie Gyllenhaal is working on a film adaptation.)

A Beginner’s Guide to Elena Ferrante

Joumana KhatibReading in Brooklyn

Frantumaglia

This collection of Ferrante’s incisive correspondence is named for a word that her mother invented to mean jumbled up fragments.

A Beginner’s Guide to Elena Ferrante

Joumana KhatibReading in Brooklyn

Troubling Love

Published in 1992, Ferrante’s first novel centers on Delia, who is consumed with her family’s history after her mother dies under mysterious circumstances.

A Beginner’s Guide to Elena Ferrante

Joumana KhatibReading in Brooklyn

The Days of Abandonment

After Olga is left by her husband, she descends into a frightening state of despair, threatening her own sense of self — and the safety of her children.