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The Lying Life of Adults

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For the television adaptation, see The Lying Life of Adults (TV series).
The Lying Life of Adults
Cover of first edition (Italy)
AuthorElena Ferrante
Audio read byAnna Bonaiuto[1]
Original titleLa vita bugiarda degli adulti
TranslatorAnn Goldstein
LanguageItalian
Set inNaples
PublisherEdizioni e/o
Publication date
7 November 2019[2]
Publication placeItaly
Published in English
1 September 2020
Media typePrint (paperback)
Pages336
ISBN9788833571683
OCLC1128092847

The Lying Life of Adults (Italian: La vita bugiarda degli adulti) is a 2019 novel by Elena Ferrante. It was adapted into a television series of the same name by Edoardo De Angelis in 2023.

Synopsis

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In Naples in the early 1990s, twelve-year-old Giovanna Trada overhears her father Andrea disparagingly liken her appearance to that of his estranged sister Vittoria. This sends Giovanna into a search for Vittoria on another side of Naples to discover the nature of the family's fallout.

Publication

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The novel was first published in Italy in November 2019 by Edizioni e/o, published as part of their Dal Mondo series.[3] An English translation by Ann Goldstein was scheduled to be published by Europa Editions on 9 June 2020, but was postponed to 1 September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5][6][7] The English translation debuted at number two on The New York Times fiction best-seller list.[8]

Reception

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Upon release, The Lying Life of Adults was generally well-received. According to Book Marks, the book received "positive" reviews based on 51 critic reviews with 22 being "rave" and 23 being "positive" and 4 being "mixed" and 2 being "pan".[9] In Books in the Media, a site that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (4.19 out of 5) from the site which was based on 15 critic reviews.[10]

In its starred review, Kirkus Reviews praised Goldstein's "fluid" translation and wrote, "Giovanna's nascent sexuality is more frankly explored than that of previous Ferrante protagonists".[11]

Publishers Weekly called Giovanna a "winning character" but nonetheless wrote that the novel "feels minor in comparison to Ferrante's previous work".[12]

A review in The New York Times stated that the book "evokes for me all the ordinary, warring paradoxes of intimate life."[13]

Television adaptation

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Main article: The Lying Life of Adults (TV series)

In May 2020, Netflix announced it would be adapting The Lying Life of Adults into a television series of the same name in collaboration with Italy's Fandango production company.[14][15][16][17] The series was released by Netflix in January 2023.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "La vita bugiarda degli adulti - Elena Ferrante". www.edizionieo.it (in Italian). Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Elena Ferrante, il nuovo romanzo si chiama "La vita bugiarda degli adulti". In libreria il 7 novembre". la Repubblica (in Italian). 28 October 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  3. ^ "La vita bugiarda degli adulti - Elena Ferrante". www.edizionieo.it (in Italian). Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  4. ^ "The Lying Life of Adults - Elena Ferrante". Europa Editions. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  5. ^ Cowdrey, Katherine (7 April 2020). "Europa Editions postpones Ferrante's new novel". The Bookseller. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  6. ^ Bussel, Rachel Kramer (31 October 2019). "New Elena Ferrante Novel 'The Lying Life Of Adults' To Be Published By Europa Editions in 2020". Forbes. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  7. ^ Winik, Marion (31 August 2020). "Elena Ferrante returns with 'The Lying Life of Adults,' and fans of the Neapolitan novels will be thrilled". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Combined Print & E-Book Fiction - Best Sellers". The New York Times. 20 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  9. ^ "The Lying Life of Adults". Book Marks. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  10. ^ "The Lying Life of Adults Reviews". Books in the Media. Archived from the original on 20 Oct 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  11. ^ "The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante; translated by Ann Goldstein". Kirkus Reviews. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  12. ^ "Fiction Book Review: The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante, trans from the Italian by Ann Goldstein". Publishers Weekly. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  13. ^ Sehgal, Parul (2020-08-25). "Elena Ferrante's New Novel Is a Suspenseful Story About the Sins of Parents". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  14. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (12 May 2020). "Elena Ferrante's 'Lying Life of Adults' to Be Adapted by Netflix, Italy's Fandango". Variety. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  15. ^ Davies, Hannah J (12 May 2020). "Netflix to adapt Elena Ferrante's The Lying Life of Adults". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  16. ^ Romano, Nick (12 May 2020). "Netflix is adapting new Elena Ferrante book before its even out". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  17. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (12 May 2020). "Netflix & Italy's Fandango To Develop Series Based On Elena Ferrante's 'The Lying Life Of Adults'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  18. ^ Nicholson, Rebecca (5 January 2023). "The Lying Life of Adults: another impeccable Elena Ferrante TV show". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
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