Reviews with content warning for Sexism - The Story of a New Name

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante

21 reviews

teniamonet's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I read this book digitally but paired it with the audio book and it was a lovely reading experience as usual. Ferrante is a powerful writer and in my opinion she does a good job at evoking emotions and thoughts within her readers.

The first book starts us off with Lila’s disappearance but quickly throws us in the childhood of Lenú and Lila. The second book we see the girls, now young women navigate their adolescence and living completely different lives; Lila starting married life and Lenú continuing on with her studies.

The order was: be a man, Ste’; either you subdue her now or you’ll never subdue her; your wife has to learn right away that she is the female and you’re the male and therefore she has to obey.

Ferrante writes about marriage, sexism, and domestic violence in such a raw way that I’ve never fully seen in any other book I’ve read before. These women fall into the cycle of being okay with their husbands abusing them because that is what is the norm as their mothers, and aunts and other women in the community do not warn them of this life. In fact the women in Lila’s life don’t even seem to bat an eye when she appears with bruises. As young girls there is a level of whimsy around what it means to be a wife and to be married and Lila and Lenú realize quickly it’s not what they imagined.

I soon realized that, being married, she was more alone than before. I sometimes went out with Carmela, with Ada, even with Gigliola, and at school I had made friends with girls in my class and other classes, so that sometimes I met them for ice cream on Via Floria. But she saw only Pinuccia, her sister-in-law.

This book brought up thoughts that I didn’t realize I had about marriage and identity as a woman. Men stay the same married or not, but as a women you move out of your family home and your name changes and while your family will always be your family the new life and family you will start with your husband by society’s standards will take up more importance.

What was it, an indirect object of place? Did it mean that she now lived now with her parents but with Stefano? Did it mean that the new house where was going to live would have on the door a brass plate that said “Carracci”? Did it mean that if i were to write to her I would no longer address the letter to Raffaella Cerullo but to Raffaella Carracci?

There’s so many more things I could talk about the infidelity between Lila and Nino and the impact that had on Lenú who had been in love with Nino for as long as she could remember. Many times during this book I brought into question if Lila truly loved Lenú because she continued to hurt her constantly. I was also upset with Lenú because she had no backbone and couldn’t stand up for herself or the things that she wanted.

“I didn’t like Signora Lina. You are much better, you’re prettier and more intelligent. I talked about it with the Sarratores, too, and they agree with me.”
“You say that because you love me.”
“No. Pay attention, Lenú. I know that you are good friends, my cousin told me. And I don’t want to interfere in things that have nothing to do with me. But a glance is enough for me to judge people. Signora Lina knows that you’re better than her and so she doesn’t love you the way you love her.”

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carojust's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Oh, I'm emotionally invested. Definitely read these in order. This book builds on Elena and Lina's lives after Lina's wedding, and we follow them into young adulthood with the same gravity and detail as the first book.

The first half was a drag for me, and suddenly I raced through the second half in a day, after the turning point during their beach vacation. Nino Sarratore, count your days.

Lina, who bothered me only a little in the first book, absolutely drove me up the wall in this one. I have a friend who made the same decisions in real life as this character does, and am stunned at the exact psychological pattern both follow. Elena Ferrante has a power in reflecting precise emotions and turmoil that are so frighteningly real.

I'm left so satisfied with how Elena's life is evolving, and while there are no winners in this story, I'll continue rooting for her, the idea of her that I hold inside myself.

I think it's the obsessive inadequacy, the verbose and constant reflection, the natural tendency to empathize, that makes this series feel like womanhood, itself. I better understand why this series has captured so many of us.

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annamgoodman's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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graciegrace20's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

lexcellent's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

sineadlgull's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Great book with strong character/relationship development. Characters and majorly flawed yet interesting and strangely loveable.

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jenni28's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I adored this book.

I received the first of the Neapolitan Quarter as a Christmas gift and devoured it, but the second instalment I loved even more. I read this in almost one sitting!

This book made me feel a lot of things…

I went through a bit of a rollercoaster with almost every single character, on one page feeling compassion and empathy for their struggles, by the next feeling utterly enraged by their pettiness and self-centred attitudes.

With Lina, for example, you can’t help but feeling a heartfelt sense of pity given how quickly her young marriage descends into a prison of abuse and unhappiness. At the same time, there were parts of this book where her treatment of Elena really disgusted me, and I wanted to scream at Elena to stop letting her friend walk all over her. But in this novel, as in life, nothing is simple - and that really comes through in the realism of Ferrantes writing.

Every character is so well-written, so believable and so enraging at times that you can’t help but be absorbed by their lives, by a story where not very much happens in terms of plot, but where I was totally glued to the page.

This book often gets sold as a book about female friendship, and I suppose that is true at the most basic level. But the parts that I found most compelling dealt with 1960s Italy, especially through the prism of class. Without being didactic, I think it was a beautiful exploration of how culture, family, friendships, social relations, communities and art are all affected by our class and our upbringing.

Despite her great success by going to University and writing a novel, Elena is almost constantly frozen by what I can only describe as “imposter” syndrome. She had a constant feeling of self doubt, never feeling good enough, that always seems to harken back to her competitive relationship with Lina or her embarrassment and shame about her own background. Lina, on the other hand, despite gaining wealth and success, feels trapped in a loveless and abusive marriage due to her social conditions. She is eventually able to break free, but not without huge consequences that affect her life and that of her whole family and community.

I was totally immersed in this book. Can’t wait to read the third instalment.

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