Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay and The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante

These are the last two of the four book series and continue with the themes of love and friendship, but with a much greater focus on the political and the intellectual than the previous two. Having lived in Italy and become somewhat immersed in Italian life, this all rings true. I have observed these obsessions and the picture Ferrante paints of the intellectual snobbery, the passion of political affiliations, and the pervasive and underlying misogyny and sexism that women of that generation experienced – and which lives on in many instances - is something I can put names and faces to. So these two books are not so much about story as about the background to the story in gritty Naples and snooty Milan and intellectual Florence, as Lenu moves between them. The gangsters rise and fall, women come and go, children are born and disappear, relationships form and flounder, life goes on. The very banality of life, if you can call a society full of murder and suicide and wife beating banal, is the narrative here and the intermittent and push-pull nature of Lenu and Lina’s relationship is probably a reflection of some sort of similar banal reality. And I think that’s probably the point. However I didn’t enjoy these two books as much as the earlier ones. As this saga progresses it’s hard to find a character with whom you sympathise; I have to say I got sick of Lenu in these later books. I just wanted to slap her and say get over yourself, get on with it, stop the self pity. So I’m glad I finished the series but I’ve had enough of it.