A review by kirsten0929
The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante

3.0

[2012] Translated from Italian. Notes to self…Usually it’s the writing and characters that keep me engaged in a book but here it’s the the story and the setting that keep me going. The HBO series has helped to create the mood for this book in a way that the book couldn’t and I have actually used that to shape my reading. The ongoing push/pull of the friendship, the addictive, almost toxic nature of it, is more interesting here as it is more traditionally explored in romantic relationships than in friendships. I do, however, find myself making excuses for some things that would have ordinarily turned me off, the soapy qualities, the melodrama, the cliches, so that I can just enjoy it for what it is, a story about a small community of characters living lives.