I’ve just finished my Neapolitan marathon. I slowed a bit towards the end, probably because I was gorging, instead of reading at a nice steady publication pace, but also because I was more interested in the backdrop—Naples, and the neighbourhood in which the two protagonists grew up—than in their relationship, of which I got a little tired by book four. But it was a wonderful immersion into that world, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The first Elena Ferrante book I read was Days of Abandonment. The prose hit me like a punch in the face, and as much as I enjoyed the Naples books, it remains my favourite.

Next up: Maggie Nelson’s The Art of Cruelty.