I picked this book up at BEA10 at the Europa booth. If you've read [b:The Elegance of the Hedgehog|2967752|The Elegance of the Hedgehog|Muriel Barbery|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347755370l/2967752._SY75_.jpg|1531887], I'm sure you noticed the beautiful, velvety, sumptuous cover. Well, all the Europa books have the same type of cover (with different artwork, of course) and I was immediately drawn in by their eye-appeal. [b:Lost Daughter|1058564|The Lost Daughter|Elena Ferrante|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1412529680l/1058564._SY75_.jpg|55591046] caught my eye, and although you aren't supposed to judge a book by its cover, well... obviously I did. And I am SO glad I did!

This is a very short book; I might call it a novella. The main character is Leda, a divorced mother of two grown daughters. When the book opens, she is off to spend the summer at the sea with the hopes of getting away from life, so to speak, and studying and writing (she is a university professor). On her first day in the small Italian village where she rents an apartment, she encounters a large, boisterous, and we eventually learn, dangerous family who frequents the same stretch of beach that she visits every day. What follows is an odd, disturbing, and somewhat complicated summer that will change Leda forever.

It isn't very often that I read a book, and love it thoroughly, and yet still feel unresolved as to whether I even like the main character. Leda suffers from what I would call maternal ambivalence, and frequently behaves in ways that I found unsettling, perplexing, and even disturbing. Her actions are unpredictable, from the bizarre situation she gets herself into at the beach, to her complicated past as the mother of younger daughters. It's a brutally honest and intimate look into a troubled and unstable mind.

As soon as I finished, I went online, anxious to see how the reviews compared to my own feelings about the story. It's interesting that almost all the reviews I read were in fact quite similar to mine; loved it, hated it, was disturbed by it, couldn't put it down... all at the same time. I only wish I had read this as part of a book club, as I think it would be fabulous for discussion! I will be recommending it at work, to be certain. If you've read it, I'd love to hear your reaction! And if you're local, and you'd like to borrow my copy, I'd be willing to loan it. ( )

Maybe it’s a “me” problem, but I hate reading about parenting and affairs.

Most of the time I was reading this, I was wondering how it could be interpreted on film. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie version, but Elena Ferrante's work is so much in the heart and the mind, a lot happens in these stories without much actual action. In this case, Leda takes herself on a vacation from her academic career, and ends up getting entwined with a Neapolitan family who she meets on the beach. Mother Nina and daughter Elena, and Elena's doll (who has many names), along with Nina's sister-in-law Rosaria and Rosaria's husband. There are also some locals who work at establishments along the beach, and the man who rents Leda her vacation apartment. All of them play a part in an accidental deception that grows into a deep reflection on Leda's life, and particularly her relationship with her grown daughters (who she had abandoned for a time, when they were young). Ferrante's protagonists are complicated women, neither completely likeable nor totally abhorrent -- pretty much like almost any person you'd meet in real life. I'm always astounded by her ability to delve so deeply into people's psyches, to take apart the smallest impulses, to reveal every flaw and strength, and this slim volume is no exception. I thought I'd get through it quickly, but her prose demands you read every word, and there's no skimming over anything. And it all stays with me. ( )

Che delusione questo libro...abituata troppo bene con la Ferrante. Sempre degna di nota la sua scrittura, molto incisiva, ma la storia proprio non mi è piaciuta ( )

Such a powerful story about a mother who struggles between her career and the duty to her children. No one is a better writer than Ferrante at peering into the human heart. ( )