In the Margins, Elena Ferrante
In the Margins, Elena Ferrante
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In the Margins
On the Pleasures of Reading and Writing

Author: Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein

Narrator: Hillary Huber

Unabridged: 2 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/15/2022

Synopsis

Four new and revelatory essays by the author of My Brilliant Friend and The Lost DaughterIn 2020, Claire Luchette in O, The Oprah Magazine described the beloved Italian novelist Elena Ferrante as “an oracle among authors.” Here, in these four crisp essays, Ferrante offers a rare look at the origins of her literary powers. She writes about her influences, her struggles, and her formation as both a reader and a writer; she describes the perils of “bad language” and suggests ways in which it has long excluded women’s truth; and she proposes a choral fusion of feminine talent as she brilliantly discourses on the work of Emily Dickinson, Gertrude Stein, Ingeborg Bachmann, and many others.Here is a subtle yet candid book by “one of the great novelists of our time” about adventures in literature, both in and out of the margins.

About Elena Ferrante

Elena Ferrante is the author of The Days of Abandonment (Europa, 2005), Troubling Love (Europa, 2006), and The Lost Daughter (Europa, 2008), now a film directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, and Jessie Buckley. She is also the author of Incidental Inventions (Europa, 2019), illustrated by Andrea Ucini; Frantumaglia: A Writer’s Journey (Europa, 2016); and a children’s picture book illustrated by Mara Cerri, The Beach at Night (Europa, 2016). The four volumes known as the “Neapolitan novels” (My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child) were published by Europa Editions in English between 2012 and 2015. My Brilliant Friend, the HBO series directed by Saverio Costanzo, premiered in 2018 and is in its third season. Ferrante’s most recent novel is the instant New York Times bestseller, The Lying Life of Adults (Europa, 2020).

About Ann Goldstein

Ann Goldstein has translated into English all of Elena Ferrante’s books, including The New York Times bestsellers The Lying Life of Adults and The Story of the Lost Child, which was also shortlisted for the Booker International Prize. She has been honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship and is the recipient of the PEN Renato Poggioli Translation Award. She lives in New York.

About Hillary Huber

"Hillary has recorded close to 700 audiobooks spanning many genres.  She is a multiple Audie Award finalist, multiple Earphone Award winner, Voice Arts Awards winner and one of Audiofile Magazine's best voices.  Hillary has a BA in English Literature and is a voracious reader and listener.  Likes: yoga, hip hop dancing, baking sourdough, bourbon. Dislikes: liver. Raised in conservative Connecticut and hippy Hawaii, Hillary now splits her time between Santa Monica and New York.   Most of that time is in a 4x4 padded room. Er...booth. Her superpower is reciting the alphabet backwards. Created with WordToHTML.net trial."

Reviews

Goodreads review by Barbara

In an article written by Jhumpa Lahiri about Calvino (which a coincidentally I read just as I was writing this review) she quotes him as saying that Italian writers "always have a problem with their own language (and they live) in a state of linguistic neurosis". That is certainly true of Ferrante a......more

Goodreads review by Krista

I believe that the sense I have of writing — and all the struggles it involves — has to do with the satisfaction of staying beautifully within the margins and, at the same time, with the impression of loss, of waste, because of that success. In an opening Editor’s Note, it is explained that Elena......more

Quotes

“Razor-sharp…A candid look into Ferrante’s development of not only her craft but also her life-long passion for literature.” Time

“The doyenne of Italian literature pores over her toolbox, discovering that reinvention is the name of her game.” Oprah Daily

“Vivid and concise…This book is a true treasure and could provide an important guide for other marginalized writers looking for their own voices.” New York Journal of Books

“Narrator Hillary Huber’s sumptuous voice brings out the poignancy of the four thought-provoking essays…Huber’s performance is a short but lavish listening experience for lovers of letters and literature. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.” AudioFile

“The essays of In the Margins are illuminating and beguiling as they peek into the literary craft of a writer at the height of her powers.” ForeWord Reviews

“An intimate self-portrait and an essential read.” AV Club

“The collection’s strength comes from Ferrante’s beautiful prose, as well as the fascinating look at where she finds inspiration. The author’s legions of fans are in for a treat.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Ferrante offers insights about her complex protagonists.” Kirkus Reviews

“Rather than offering a how-to guide, she describes her process with all the lyrical yet clarifying prose of her fiction…[and] lauds the concept of creativity under constraint.” Shelf Awareness

Awards

  • AudioFile Earphones Award
  • Literary Hub Pick
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