Epiphany presents a discussion and book club about Elena Ferrante's "The Lying Life of Adults," featuring Ann Goldstein, Ferrante's American translator, and Michael Reynolds of Europa Editions, moderated by novelist Rachel Lyon. Register here.

ANN GOLDSTEIN is an American editor and translator from the Italian language. She is best known for her translations of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet.

MICHAEL REYNOLDS is the editor-in-chief of Europa Editions. He was born in Australia in 1968 and now lives in New York with his family.

RACHEL LYON is the author of SELF PORTRAIT WITH BOY (Scribner 2018), which was a finalist for the Center for Fiction's 2018 First Novel Prize and the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award. She is the editor-in-chief of Epiphany.

THE LYING LIFE OF ADULTS is a powerful new novel set in a divided Naples by ELENA FERRANTE, the New York Times best-selling author of My Brilliant Friend and The Lost Daughter.

“There’s no doubt [the publication of The Lying Life of Adults] will be the literary event of the year.”—Elle

Giovanna’s pretty face is changing, turning ugly, at least so her father thinks. Giovanna, he says, looks more like her Aunt Vittoria every day. But can it be true? Is she really changing? Is she turning into her Aunt Vittoria, a woman she hardly knows but whom her mother and father clearly despise? Surely there is a mirror somewhere in which she can see herself as she truly is.

Giovanna is searching for her reflection in two kindred cities that fear and detest one another: Naples of the heights, which assumes a mask of refinement, and Naples of the depths, a place of excess and vulgarity. She moves from one to the other in search of the truth, but neither city seems to offer answers or escape.