Historical Map of Naples, 18th century [Wikimedia]

It's hard to believe, but we are already on our way to our second book of the Virtual Book Club! I've been thrilled to see all the great support and interest in our (international :) online community of passionate readers, and I can't wait till our first meeting on The Great Gatsby next week on Oct. 12th, 6pm EST. I emailed you the Zoom link for our event (or, if you just joined, you will receive it soon); please be on the lookout for it. In the meantime, and in order to give you a full month of preparation, I'm announcing Book 2 for our following meeting, on Thursday, Nov. 5th at 6pm Eastern Standard Time...The Lying Life of Adults by Italy's incredible Elena Ferrante. I've been looking forward to this book ever since I finished reading Ferrante's ravishing "Neapolitan Novels," a quartet centered on the tempestuous lives – and tormented friendship – of the unforgettable Lila and Elena and their love-hate relation to their magnificent and complicated hometown, Naples. I'm intrigued by The Lying Life of Adults for many reasons, especially because a goal of the VBC is to include contemporary works "hot off the press" (the novel was just published in September 2020) along with more classic masterpieces like Gatsby. I reviewed one of Ferrante's novels, The Story of a New Name, when it came out and will include that here for your possible interest. As always, I also include here a specially prepared PDF with some questions and points to help guide your reading of Ferrante's novel (click "Study Guide" below). I'll be in touch again soon, in the meantime, Buona lettura / Happy reading...see you on Monday for Gatsby!