“The Story of the Missing Child” is the fourth, final installment of the captivating epic about two friends that has shaken many readers: quiet, smart Lenu and spirited, talented Lila. Time goes on—each heroine has her own family, children, elderly parents, lovers… yet the most constant thing in Lenu and Lila’s lives remains their friendship.
Both heroines put in a great deal of effort trying to escape the poor Neapolitan neighborhood where they grew up—a realm of stubbornness, cruelty, and harsh taboos. Lenu married, moved to Florence, became a famous writer. But now she is returning to Naples, as if unable to resist its dark spells.
Lila couldn’t leave her hometown. She became a successful businesswoman, but success only draws her deeper into the Neapolitan abyss of nepotism, chauvinism, and criminal showdowns. In the end, the unmanageable, unstoppable, irresistible Lila turns into the un-crowned queen of the very world she has always hated…
All four books of Ferrante’s Neapolitan cycle formed a unique epic about female friendship, which literary critic Galina Yuzefovich called—almost—the main international bestseller of the 2010s.