Giovanna's pretty face has changed: it's turning into the face of an ugly, spiteful adolescent. But is she seeing things as they really are? Into which mirror must she look to find herself and save herself? She is searching for a new face in two kindred cities that fear and detest one another: the Naples of the heights, which assumes a mask of refinement, and the Naples of the depths, which professes to be a place of excess and vulgarity. She moves between these two cities, disoriented by the fact that, whether high or low, the city seems to offer no answer and no escape.
***
Two years before leaving home my father said to my mother that I was very ugly. 1
***
(@EuropaEdUK, 1 September 2020, ebook, 329 pages, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @BorrowBox)
***
***
Ferrante has been on my radar for ages since I read and loved My Brilliant Friend but her books are always on loan at the library. The Lying Life of Adults was featured on the TV show Between The Covers and sounded good so I was delighted it was available. I don't know if the same translator works on all the book but I loved the language, characters and use of imagery. I loved the way the book explores Giovanna's coming of age and the relationship between her and her parents who seem to be self-obsessed. I didn't want to stop reading the book. I really need to read her other books.