Story of a New Name (Ferrante)

The Story of a New Name (Neapolitan Novels 2)
Elena Ferrante, 2012 (trans., 2013)
Europa Editions
480 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781609451349


Summary
The second book following My Brilliant Friend and featuring the two friends Lila and Elena.

The two protagonists are now in their twenties. Marriage appears to have imprisoned Lila. Meanwhile, Elena continues her journey of self-discovery.

The two young women share a complex and evolving bond that brings them close at times, and drives them apart at others. Each vacillates between hurtful disregard and profound love for the other.

With this complicated and meticulously portrayed friendship at the center of their emotional lives, the two girls mature into women, paying the cruel price that this passage exacts. (From the publisher.)

Books in the series
My Brilliant Friend (2011) is the first of Ferrante's four Neapolitan Novels. This book is the second, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (2013) is the third, and The Story of a Lost Child (2014) is the last.