The Story of a New Name

Youth

Hardcover, 729 pages

English language

Published May 14, 2016 by Thorndike Press.

ISBN:
978-1-4104-9117-6
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OCLC Number:
948562496

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5 stars (11 reviews)

Friends Lila and Elena are now in their twenties. Marriage appears to have imprisoned Lila. Meanwhile, Elena continues her journey of self-discovery. The two young women share a complex and evolving bond that brings them close at times, and drives them apart at others. Each vacillates between hurtful disregard and profound love for the other. With this complicated and meticulously portrayed friendship at the center of their emotional lives, the two girls mature into women, paying the cruel price that this passage exacts. --back cover

14 editions

500 pagine volate!

4 stars

500 pagine letteralmente volate, che mi hanno tenuta incollata ad esse persino di notte. Come nel libro precedente mi sono ritrovata a provare simpatia ora per Elena ed ora per Lina, e poi ad odiare prima l'una poi l'altra. Il carattere di Lina, però, in questo secondo capitolo, appare più definito, più comprensibile, più umano, specialmente a partire dalla seconda metà del volume. Elena, invece, continua a rimanere troppo aggrappata agli altri: non solo all'amica di sempre, ma anche al fidanzato di turno, all'opinione di coloro "che contano", agli spettri del passato. Ed è proprio uno di quegli spettri che apparirà per caso nell'ultima pagina, proprio quando tutto sembra aver iniziato a delinearsi in una nuova traiettoria di emancipazione. Temo che il terzo libro sarà molto difficile da digerire!

Review of 'The Story of a New Name' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

If only I spoke Italian and could read it in the original! I'm told (by someone who did) the use of dialect makes an untranslatable difference in tone and I believe it, but then I'd have to give it 6 stars.

The series (there are 4 books, but as of today, only 3 have been translated into English) is about relationships, especially the one between Elena and Lila, but the meeting of the two in the sausage plant in which Lenucia realizes she wanted to show off her victory in their competition only to discover that Lila doesn't believe that there is any journey to take, but that it all unfolds in each individual encounter, itself a realization that trumps all Lena's achievements.

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