The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante, 471 pages, 

translated from Italian, Book 2 in the Neapolitan Novels series

I became interested in the novels after watching the HBO series My Brilliant Friend. I immediately fell in love with the two main protagonists, Lila and Lenù, little girls growing up in post WWII Naples. The telling of their brutal childhood is handled with raw innocent grace: difficult childhoods are difficult to narrate. Following Book 1, which lays out the girls’ lives in their dusty square of multi-family apartment buildings, the broken adults, the near feral children, their bare-bones school, and the steely bond between the two, this Book 2 reaches into their adulthood, such as it is. Lila marries at 16, hardly an adult, while Lenù eventually leaves the grey life of Naples by train, attends University in Pisa, to gain academic status, and new bonds. 

Their lives sharply cut away from each other by outward appearances. But both battle restrictions set upon them from within and out, in the backdrop of the 60’s, as social, gender, class upheaval brews. Lila weaponizes all resources within her grasp to fight the life that seems decided before she was born, a life still full of suffocating limits and violence. Meanwhile, Lenù, given opportunities of freedom that Lila can no longer even dream about, wrestles with a chronic unease of not ever escaping her Neapolitan identity no matter how accomplished, masterful and socially connected she becomes. And in these struggles, their bond is measured and tested. I am really looking forward to reading Book 3. The filmed series is very enjoyable, but the writing offers a more exquisite tale. 

Scandal in Babylon

Scandal in Babylon by Barbara Hambly, 233 pages

After six months serving as an assistant to movie star Kitty Flint, Oxford-educated Emma Blackstone is yearning for a return to the classic education she loves. However, when Kitty's long-estranged husband turns up dead in her dressing room, Emma is instead thrown into an investigation to clear her kind employer's name and see who in this glamorous world could want to frame Kitty.

This book is certainly chock full of 1920s Hollywood, from the ghastly makeup and the even-more-ghastly attempts at "historical accuracy" to bootleggers and the corrupt studio system. It's an OK mystery, and Emma's obsession with Latin gets a bit tedious at times, but if you're a fan of Hollywood before the talkies, this is the mystery for you.

The Missing Treasures of Amy Ashton

The Missing Treasures of Amy Ashton by Eleanor Ray, 305 pages

Years ago, Amy Ashton's best friend and boyfriend vanished on the same day. While the police concluded that they ran off together, Amy's convinced that her two favorite people in the world would never do that to her. As investigators, family, and friends moved on, Amy became stuck, staying at the same "temporary" job she had when they disappeared and gathering lost "treasures," that include discarded bottles, plant pots (but not the plants), newspapers, and a veritable flock of ceramic birds. Now, Amy's treasures have overtaken her home, and the pressure of meddling neighbors and rambunctious children next door is beginning to make Amy's collection, and her mental health, crumble.

This is a very real and humane look at hoarding, mental health, grief, and the relationships that make up our lives. I loved the way Ray treated Amy's many issues with kindness and empathy, particularly as hoarding has become such a sensationalized issue in much mainstream media. I absolutely loved this book, and recommend it to those who enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.