The Week - UK (2020-09-12)

31

12 September 2020 THE WEEK

ARTS

TheItalianauthorwhowritesunder

thenameElenaFerrantewaspropelled

toprominencebythe“Neapolitan

Quartet”,herfour-volumenovel

trackingthedecades-longfriendship

betweentwowomenfromtheslums

ofNaples.Theserieswasaglobal

phenomenon,sellingsome 15 millioncopies.NowFerranteis

backwithherfirstnovelinfiveyears,saidIsabelBerwickinthe

FT.TheLyingLifeofAdultsisa“smaller”andmoretightly

focusedworkthanitspredecessor,coveringjustthreeyearsinthe

lifeofa“cosseted”girlfromamiddle-classdistrictofNaples–

butit’s“intense”and“brilliant”.Giovannaisnearly 13 whenshe

overhearsher fathercomplainingto hiswifethattheir daughter is

“gettingthe faceofVittoria”–areferencetoher paternal aunt,an

“unseenwoman” from apoor area ofthecitywhohaslongbeen

reviledbyher parents. Intrigued,Giovannapersuadesthem tolet

hermeether“ugly”aunt,andwhenshedoes,she encounters

nottheexpected“bogeyman”,buta“transgressive”, captivating

womanwho becomes aformativeinfluence.

Asemi-literatecleanerwithatemper

“asvolcanicasVesuviusitself”,Vittoria

isamemorablecreation,saidLisa

AppignanesiinTheObserver.“Pig-

headedlyproud”andgloriouslypotty-

mouthed,sheactsasa“sexualised

secondmother”toGiovanna,

overseeingher“passageinto

womanhood”.Shealsopoisonsher

againstherparents,causingherto

rejectthe“bookishworld”they

embody,andunravellingthecarefully

spunliesthatunderpintheirmarriage.

Forloyalreaders,there’sapleasure

inrevisitingthe“familiarFerrante

placesandthemes”,saidLaraFeigel

inTheGuardian.What’sremarkable,

however,isthatthislatestnovelmanagestobe“newand

surprising”evenso–it’san“astonishing,deeplymoving”tale.

TheLyingLifeofAdultsprovideswelcomeproofthathergift

remains“intact”,saidDaynaTortoriciinTheNewYorkTimes.

SomefearedthatcelebritywouldadverselyaffectFerrante’s

creativity–concernsthatintensifiedwhen,in 2016 ,ajournalist

seemedtorevealheridentity.Butthankfully,wecan put“such

worriesto rest”.Thisisanovelofstriking “vividnessand depth”

thatcaptures theturbulenceofadolescencewith“u nflinching

psychologicalhonesty”.It’s “vintageFerrante”, agreedFrancesca

Caringtonin TheDailyTelegraph–anarrative“borneaheadby

apropulsiveunpleasantness,punctuatedwithexquisitelydrawn-

outmomentsof sorrow”.

The Lying Life of Adults

by Elena Ferrante

(translated by Ann Goldstein)

Europa Editions 336pp £20

The Week Bookshop£15.99

Review of reviews: Books

Bookoftheweek

AndrewO’Hagan’snewnovelisa“joyful, warm

andheart-fillingtribute tothe million-petalled

flower ofmalefriendship”, saidJohnSelf in

TheTimes. ItcentresonJimmyandTully,two

working-class ladsfromAyrshire who strikeup

aclosefriendshipin their lateteens.Inthe first

half –set in198 6 –theytraveltoManchester

forwhatthey willrecallasthe “bestweekend

inhistory”:araucousfewdaysspentdancingat

theHaçienda and watchingThe Smithsat theG-Mex.Inthesecondhalf, set

in 2017,the tone abruptlyshifts,said Allan Massiein The Scotsman.Jimmy –

now, like O’Hagan (pictured),asuccessful writerlivi ng in London–learns that

Tully(an English teacher inGlasgow) hasterminal cancer, andisa skedbyhis

friend to help arrange hisdeath ataDignitas clinicin Switzerland.In“delicate,

scrupulousprose”, O’Hagan exploresthe “unanswerablequestions” this raises.

Mayfliesis “thatrarity:anovel aboutdeaththat islife-enhancing”.

LikeThe Great GatsbyandBrideshead Revisited(both mentioned in passing),

this isaworkinwhich a“dazzlednarrator pays tribute toadazzling chum”,

said James Waltonin The Spectator. Here, though,there’ sadifference: Jimmy’s

admirationfor Tully“never wavers forasecond”. Occasionally, “the more

heretical reader mightwonderif Tully’s extended comicriffsand political

diatribes arealways so completely marvellous”as Jimmy–and by extension

O’Hagan–believes. (O’Hagan has revealed that Tullywas based on areal

friend,whodiedofcancerin2018.)This is indeedasentimentalnovel, said Sam

Leith in TheDaily Telegraph.And it’s allthe betterfor it .“Sentimentality is,

afterall,part of human experience”–and hereO’Hagan gives it fullexpression

in an“affecting and evocativepictureof an eraandofarelationship”.

Mayflies

by Andrew O’Hagan

Faber 288pp £14.99

The Week Bookshop£11.99

Death in Her Hands

by Ottessa Moshfegh

Jonathan Cape 272pp £14.99

The Week Bookshop£11.99

“OttessaMoshfeghwasahead of the curveon

isolation,”said Susannah Butterinthe London

Evenin gStandard. Twoofher previousnovels

• EileenandMy YearofRestand Relaxation
  –havecentredon “lone-wolf womenretr eating
  into soli tude”. Now, with this “clever,dark”
  and“funny” tale,she pr esents another “woman
  on herown”. VestaGul is a72-year-oldwidow
  wholives inacabin in NewEngland.One day,
  outint he woods,shediscoversanote. “Her
  namewas Magda,” it reads.“Nobody will ever
  know whokilledher.”
  We areprimed foramurder mystery–but
  it doesn’t materialise, said LucyScholesin the
  FT:Magda’s body is neverdiscovered.Even
  so, Vesta becomes obsessed with thenote, and
  the life it so tantalisinglyhints at. Soon, sheis
  inventinga“complex”back story forMagda,
  and thesefant asies chipawayather senseof
  reality.This becomes a“novelabout no vel-
  writing”–about hownarrat ive, plot and
  meaning canbeconjured from “random,
  insignificant events”. It lacksthe“wild, reckless
  brilliance”of some of Moshf egh’sprevious
  work, butit “makesamark all of itsown”.

©J

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Acomingofagetalethatis“vintageFerrante”