The Story of the Lost Child

The Neapolitan Novels, Book 4

By: Elena Ferrante

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 18 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

The Story of the Lost Child concludes the dazzling saga of two women—the brilliant, bookish Elena and the fiery, uncontainable Lila—who first met amid the shambles of postwar Italy.

In this book, life’s great discoveries have been made; its vagaries and losses have been suffered. Through it all, Elena and Lila’s friendship remains the gravitational center of their lives. Both women once fought to escape the neighborhood in which they grew up. Elena married, moved to Florence, started a family, and published several well-received books. But now, she has returned to Naples to be with the man she has always loved.

Lila, on the other hand, never succeeded in freeing herself from Naples. She has become a successful entrepreneur, but her success draws her into closer proximity with the nepotism, chauvinism, and criminal violence that infect her neighborhood. Yet, somehow, this proximity to a world she has always rejected only brings her role as unacknowledged leader of that world into relief.

©2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2015 Blackstone Audiobooks

sad it's over

These books are loaded. Long, emotional, and beautifully written. The turn this took really surprised me. I am sad it's over though - this series was a warm blanket and a comfort during quarantine. I will relisten in a few years and probably be reminded of where I was (home) and what I was doing (cooking constantly). Picking up my headphones to listen to this everyday was a welcome reprieve from this strange season. I love these books! The pace is slow but so are my days right now, so that works out. This narrator is in my all time top 5, what a comfort. I wonder if I'll ever be able to separate her from Elena Greco should I ever listen to anything else she's ever read.

i can't believe it's over....

you'll find yourself missing the characters, thinking about them during the day, hoping they find some peace.. but they don't.
also in this (incredible and amazing) book, Ferrante is unforgiving to her characters, and they have hard hard lives, with harsh consequences. i did not want this book to end, i loved the feeling i had while listing to all 4 books, but this one, as it holds another secret book inside, and an oh-so emotional epilog, is by far the best one.
also, because we have to say good by to elena and lila.

you'll love it. don't miss out

Intense and Brilliant. Totally immersive.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Extraordinary characters, so intricately developed-- You can't help but be enriched by the intensity, the drama, and the everyday life of these characters. The self examination of the narrating/main character, and her revelations of those that surround her are endlessly thought provoking. This fabulous series would have been ruined with the wrong Narrator-Hillary Huber is perfect. Words fail me. She conveys every mood perfectly.

What does Hillary Huber bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Unbelievably nuanced mood shifts, beautiful voice, quiet and intense.

Another Triumph for Ferrante!

This last book in the series was as gripping as the prior 3 books. I loved the characters and am sad to leave them. I am new to the author and will be finding her other writings.

Epic and Enthralling.

A believable and magical story of friendship in a romantic setting.
The writer chooses a musical styles that makes one want to continue and conveys varios moods.

Compelling novel

I loved the novel an was sad when I reached the end of the final book of the series.

Beautifully written and translated

I’ve listened to all four Neapolitan novels. My family is northern Italian so I thought I might identify with these books. At first I didn’t. In fact I disliked what I thought were stereotypes. But I stuck with each book, in large part because of the beautiful writing (and translation.) Once invested, I couldn’t stop. Ferrante masterfully pulls the reader into the lives of the characters, weaving their stories through modern Italian history. This body of work represents feminist themes in a nuanced and real-world way. The performance was good, although Huber frequently mispronounced Italian words so I would have preferred an Italian-speaking narrator.

A story of dark and light-often intertwined

Bought My Brilliant Friend tentatively, not even knowing there were 3 more books, then had to think "Do I really want to get book #2?" But I was barely into #2 when I felt like "I've got to get the next two!" And so I did. Nothing I love better in a book (s) than epic relationships and this did not disappoint. Four books worth of Elena and Lila and their combined brlliance, fighting and scraping for any good thing, and their misfortunes which swept over them continually. A wonderful series plus I'm inspired to read up on Italian history now!

Disolver los limites personales

Esta historia disuelve los límites personales. Lenu es Lila, porque esta última parece quien escribe, la ha manipulado desde el principio. Las muñecas son prueba de ello, pero también son prueba de ese amor de infancia, que perdura. Es difícil comprender el final, porque no lo es, es una invitación a pensar. Lila no se disuelve porque Lenu se sale con la suya al hacerla inmortal. La Niña perdida es Lenu que no encuentra en si misma la verdadera razón de escribir... su inseguridad es su verdadera sombra.

WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW

Mark Twain said, “Write what you know” but fails to warn of its consequence. Elena Ferrante completes Twain’s aphorism in “The Story of the Lost Child”. The consequence of “writing what you know” is to reveal who you are and what you think of your family, friends, lovers, and acquaintances. Often, that reveal is not flattering. To “write what you know” can be psychologically, morally, and financially damaging.

“The Story of the Lost Child” is the fourth book in Ferrante’s series about two poor women who achieve economic and social independence in Italy during the sixties, seventies, and eighties. Ferrante takes the story through modern-day Italy and the events of life that change the two main characters that are growing old.

An underlying theme in Ferrante’s fourth Neapolitan Novel is the impact of parental life on children. Children grow into their own lives but they are both genetically and environmentally affected by their parents. Human beings are by nature self-absorbed. It is not that when adults become parents, they lose their lives, their own experiences, their own desires. Decent parents love their children but a parent’s love is within a context of living a life.

The title of this fourth novel is “The Story of the Lost Child” because Lila loses her daughter. That loss is because of parental self-absorption. Both Lila and Elena are focused on getting ahead in life. Each’s self-absorption exhibits in different ways but both have an impact on their children’s lives.

Elena Ferrante, whoever she is, has written a story that lionizes women in some ways but humanizes and degrades them in others. Of course, all human beings are flawed; that is why “writing what you know” has consequences.