Point of View

Like the first three of Ferrante's Neapolitan novels, The Story of the Lost Child is written in first-person and narrated completely by Elena. Also like the other three novels, Elena reminds the reader that the entire tetraology is written from the benefit of hindsight. The first novel begins when she and Lila are 66 years old, and Lila walks away from her life in Naples without a trace. Throughout the novel, Elena inserts herself from the future; this also gives the author the ability to jump forward in time and be very direct in her foreshadowing. Although for the most part the story reads in a narrative style, there are enough such departures from the timeline to allow the reader, as well as Elena, to see the novel from the far future.

Language and Meaning

Ferrante's writing evokes the tumult of the plot. It can go...