The Story of an New Name
by Elena Ferrante
Old Book of the Week , July 6, 2015
The Story of an New Name (Book 2)
The new name is Lila's (her wedding at the end of book one makes her Signora Carracci), but the story of this book, on the surface at least, is Elena's, as Lila, so dynamic and charismatic as a child, struggles in the prison of her early marriage. The melodramatic upheavals of the first book only increase in the second, and the world and the friendship of the two women, as they expand beyond their neighborhood, gain further dimension. What to compare these books to? For the often unbeautiful language and driven heroines, I thought of Dreiser's fantastic Sister Carrie. For the unsentimental economics of womanhood, I thought of James M. Cain's Mildred Pierce. For empathy and breadth of character, I thought of, if you don't mind my saying so, Anna Karenina. Not bad. Where will they go from here?
The new name is Lila's (her wedding at the end of book one makes her Signora Carracci), but the story of this book, on the surface at least, is Elena's, as Lila, so dynamic and charismatic as a child, struggles in the prison of her early marriage. The melodramatic upheavals of the first book only increase in the second, and the world and the friendship of the two women, as they expand beyond their neighborhood, gain further dimension. What to compare these books to? For the often unbeautiful language and driven heroines, I thought of Dreiser's fantastic Sister Carrie. For the unsentimental economics of womanhood, I thought of James M. Cain's Mildred Pierce. For empathy and breadth of character, I thought of, if you don't mind my saying so, Anna Karenina. Not bad. Where will they go from here?
— Tom
The Story of an New Name was reviewed in Newsletter #47 on July 6, 2015. For more like this, and other bookish news, sign up for the newsletter .
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