Comments (27)

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Jul 08, 2023AnnieFofa rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
What a wonderful series! I can’t wait to read the next one!
Jul 21, 2022_m1_ rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The second book in the series tells the story of Lenu and Lila's teenage to early adult years. While it retains the sophisticated storytelling of "My Brilliant Friend," I feel that Ferrante spends too much time in certain parts of the book…
Mar 17, 2021SFBookAddict rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I thought the first book of this quartet was brilliant, well, this second book surpassed all my expectations and was equally if not more brilliant than the first. Ferrante has the gift of getting deep into main characters -- their psyche,…
Jan 02, 2021
Book 2
May 02, 2020
The Neopolitan Novels (4 novels) 1.My Brilliant Friend (already read) 2.The Story of a New Name 3.Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay 4.The Story of the Lost Child (n/a this library; can order on Amazon)
Sep 17, 2019NadiaHathor rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is a case where there aren't enough stars and or words to acclaim this book with! Elena has fast become one of my favorite Authors with her audacious, unsentimental ability to unmask the personalities of her characters with little…
Sep 17, 2019NadiaHathor rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is a case where there aren't enough stars and or words to acclaim this book with! Elena has fast become one of my favorite Authors with her audacious, unsentimental ability to unmask the personalities of her characters with little…
jr3083
Mar 14, 2018jr3083 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is a four-part story, released at one volume each year between 2012 and 2015. Set in a poverty-stricken section of Naples in the 1950s, it is the story of a friendship between two women, Elena and Lina. At times I found myself…
Jul 25, 2017Bunny_Watson716 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is the second book in Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels. I couldn't put it down and loved the way that the friendship between Elena and Lina is described - all the conflicting feelings, tensions, and betrayals. I also love that the novel…
kslavik
Apr 08, 2017kslavik rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Damn, I cried near the end of this book. The characters drew me in so much I couldn't stop reading and I ended up finishing the book in 10 days. If you're interested in feminism definitely check out this book.
Feb 02, 2017empbee rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I want to put it down but I can't.
Nov 19, 2016FVReader rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed this continuation of Lina and Elena's story. This story takes the girls through their teens and into their early 20s. It's a story of raising oneself above one's beginning and the various directions this can take one. It's about…
Sep 06, 2016NanCcan rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Only continuing the series because I do enjoy finding out what happens to characters I've come to know. I am still dismayed with Elena's depressing inability to ever appreciate the value of her own dreams and achievements. She makes so…
sungeun2k1
Aug 20, 2016sungeun2k1 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
"I had made that whole journey mainly to show her what she had lost and what I had won. But she had known from the moment I appeared, and now... she was explaining to me that I had won nothing, that in the world there is nothing to win,…
Aug 15, 2016Hshswiss rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Do not read until you've finished 'My Brilliant Friend,' as you'll miss some important character development and plot points. That being said, I think this book is much better. The story is beautiful, and I can't wait to read the 3rd one.…
Jun 10, 2016Chapel_Hill_ShannonB rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
The second book in Ferrante's Neapolitan novels picks up right up where we left Elena and Lila at the end of "My Brilliant Friend." They have now begun to navigate life as young adults, and their story continues to be engrossing and…
May 16, 2016brangwinn rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
The continuation of the story of two friends in a small town outside Naples. Readers need to read the books in order to understand the relationships of all the characters. The story is character driven by Elena who was determined to go to…
May 11, 2016mallc rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
The soap opera continues in the second book and it's just as engrossing as the first novel.
May 10, 2016lukasevansherman rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
"For you whole life you love people and you never really know who they are." Some people seem to be confused about how many books are in this series. There are four (a tetralogy), not three (a trilogy). This is the second of the series…
Apr 06, 2016singasong70 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I don't like Lina either. She's needy and manipulative, portrayed as strong and independent however, wants things to come her way without striving for them. What does she want out of life ultimately anyway? Is she as good at everything…
Feb 24, 2016uncommonreader rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed reading this second book it the series. It provides a devastating picture of patriarchy in the Italy of the 1960s.
madison382
Sep 25, 2015madison382 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
There were parts in this volume that was slow (still don't like Lina), but still an enjoyable read. I am looking forward to reading book 3 in this series.
Jun 27, 2015badidea rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
The Story of a New Name is the second book in the excellent Neapolitan Novels series. (I strongly recommend reading My Brilliant Friend first.) This intensely moving story of two friends, one stubbornly diligent girl pursuing her…
athompson10
May 10, 2015athompson10 rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Longer than "My Brilliant Friend", it picks up right where that book ended, at Lina's wedding to Stefano. This book takes the girls through two years of Lina's marital problems and Elena's pursuit of a high-school education. Sometimes it…
manoush
Apr 28, 2015
In this second volume of the Neapolitan tetralogy, Ferrante fully fleshes out the dialectic between the two friends Lila and Elena as they grow from teenagers into young women in their 20s. Their friendship is marked by both fierce…