The Lost Daughter
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Leda is a middle-aged divorcée devoted to her work as an English teacher and to her two children. When her daughters leave home to be with their father in Canada, Leda anticipates a period of loneliness and longing. Instead, slightly embarrassed by the sensation, she feels liberated, as if her life has become lighter, easier. She decides to take a holiday by the sea, in a small coastal town in southern Italy. But after a few days of calm and quiet, things begin to take a menacing turn. Leda encounters a family whose brash presence proves unsettling, at times even threatening. When a small, seemingly meaningless, event occurs, Leda is overwhelmed by memories of the difficult and unconventional choices she made as a mother and their consequences for herself and her family. The seemingly serene tale of a woman’s pleasant rediscovery of herself soon becomes the story of a ferocious confrontation with an unsettled past.
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Ann
Goldstein
Ann Goldstein has translated into English all of Elena Ferrante’s books, including The Story of the Lost Child, which was also shortlisted for the Booker International Prize. She has been honoured with a Guggenheim Fellowship and is the recipient of the PEN Renato Poggioli Translation Award. She lives in New York.
Ann Goldstein has translated into English all of Elena Ferrante’s books, including The Story of the Lost Child, which was also shortlisted for the Booker International Prize. She has been honoured with a Guggenheim Fellowship and is the recipient of the PEN Renato Poggioli Translation Award. She lives in New York.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
Elena Ferrante was never seen in public and nobody know who she is. The Lost Daughter is a fascinating story which explores the conflicting feelings which a mother has with her child.