Friday 18 February 2022

Review by Lisa Williams of "The Lost Daughter" by Elena Ferrante



Have you seen the film yet? Treat your eyeballs, it’s fab – Olivia Coleman is just perfectly cast as the protagonist Professor Leda. The film follows the book very closely, but perhaps read the book first? I think it’s better to have your own pictures in your head as you read. 

Ferrante does characters so well. In this beauty, she explores motherhood, specifically the bond between mother and daughter. The book examines the impact on a woman’s life, career, hopes and expectations of these ties. It’s breathtaking, but then I am a mother that struggled with the impact of the life changes after the birth of my daughter 

I don’t think I’m giving too much away by saying there’s a missing child in the book. It reminds Leda of her own daughter going missing. I’m not sure who the lost daughter in the title is, though. There are a few mothers in the book who have daughters but are also daughters themselves. Ugh ... I’m always conscious of not dropping hideous spoilers. Will you please read it and then we’ll chat?


About the reviewer
Lisa Williams is a shopgirl and a graduate of the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester. She is on Twitter @noodleBubble 

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