---
product_id: 5678457
title: "Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay: A Novel (Neapolitan Novels, 3)"
price: "€ 26.22"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 10
url: https://www.desertcart.nl/products/5678457-those-who-leave-and-those-who-stay-a-novel-neapolitan
store_origin: NL
region: Netherlands
---

# Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay: A Novel (Neapolitan Novels, 3)

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## Description

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay: A Novel (Neapolitan Novels, 3) [Ferrante, Elena, Goldstein, Ann] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay: A Novel (Neapolitan Novels, 3)

Review: I can't remember when I have been so completely taken with a series of novels as I have been with these beautifully written and - Those Who Leave is the third book in the author's "Neapolitan Novels" (with the fourth, The Story of the Lost Child, scheduled for publication in the U.S. in September 2015) and it is as gripping and enthralling as the first two. The series is set in a somewhat insular neighborhood of Naples. It is now the late 1960s and 1970s and the two main characters, whose friendship constitutes the center of the books, are now somewhat estranged as their lives have grown complicated and divergent. Still living in Naples, Lina has separated from her husband and is raising her young son while Elena has graduated from college and published a novel. But the actually events of the narrative are not the author's primary concern. Rather, it is the internal life of the two characters and how their own idiosyncratic reactions provide a shape to their stories. In addition to drawing complex characters, Ferrante provides a fascinating portrait of the culture of this slice of Italy during rapidly evolving times. Taken together, the novels are both a coming-of-age story and a coming-into-maturity tale of two diverse women who somehow maintain their own complex, and often convoluted, relationship. I can't remember when I have been so completely taken with a series of novels as I have been with these beautifully written and deeply realized stories, and I am having trouble waiting for the final volume. I recommend Those Who Leave and the two previous books in the series with absolutely no reservations.
Review: no payday of an ending but a nice reading experience - Once, when I was a teenager back in the good old 1990's, I was reading Seventeen Magazine and came across a candy-bar ad. The ad was a picture of the candy-bar, and the slogan that it was "totally nuts." In the background there was a lot of text in very fine print. I started reading this text, which was a parody version of a 90's teenage girl rambling on forever about nothing. Phone conversations, clothing descriptions, the word "like" thrown in every tenth word or so. Yet I kept reading the whole thing. I was mesmerized and oddly soothed by the repetitive nothingness of the "story." And then, over halfway through, the story was interrupted by congratulations for making it through such a "nutty" story and offered me a free teeshirt. What does this have to do with Elena Ferrante's novel? The repetitive, almost nothingness of the story through the first three books had a similar feeling for me, and I found myself remembering that ad for the first time in many years. Much as I was compelled to finish the advertisement, I also could not put these books down, and I have now finished the 4th novel. This being said, I do not know if I can honestly describe them as being great storytelling. The protagonist (Lenù) is unlikable and rather selfish and short-sighted. She has enough intelligence to excel in school with a lot of hard work, but she never exhibits her own opinion and keeps trying to act in a way that people will reward with praise rather than have any ideas or presence of her own. But yet she is sympathetic at times as someone trying to be her best self, using education as the means. Lila, the friend, is fascinating, but remains a bit of an enigma throughout the books. I wished many times that we were reading the story from her perspective. But I did read it all, and the two women characters do grow up and hit milestones of life throughout the books, but the pattern that they go through remains the same always as they age. Definitely worth reading if you are a reader of novels. A well written, and a unique kind of story for sure, but kind of like reading a teenage girl's long ramble of her inner consciousness that she is aware someone is going to read one day. But the novel does provide plenty of deeper themes to think about and ponder. Feminism, poverty, the modern era and how it changed society, and yet how things stay the same too. The mid-century Italian setting was interesting and was a great atmosphere to the novels. Perhaps if a free tee-shirt had been offered in the middle of the book, it would have gotten 5 stars from me, but alas that was not the case.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #29,387 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #508 in Family Saga Fiction #1,145 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction #2,334 in Literary Fiction (Books) |
| Book 3 of 4  | Neapolitan Novels |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (15,560) |
| Dimensions  | 5.27 x 1.27 x 8.23 inches |
| Edition  | First Edition |
| ISBN-10  | 160945233X |
| ISBN-13  | 978-1609452339 |
| Item Weight  | 2.31 pounds |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 400 pages |
| Publication date  | September 2, 2014 |
| Publisher  | Europa Editions |

## Images

![Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay: A Novel (Neapolitan Novels, 3) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81TwroED2NL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I can't remember when I have been so completely taken with a series of novels as I have been with these beautifully written and
*by C***S on February 11, 2015*

Those Who Leave is the third book in the author's "Neapolitan Novels" (with the fourth, The Story of the Lost Child, scheduled for publication in the U.S. in September 2015) and it is as gripping and enthralling as the first two. The series is set in a somewhat insular neighborhood of Naples. It is now the late 1960s and 1970s and the two main characters, whose friendship constitutes the center of the books, are now somewhat estranged as their lives have grown complicated and divergent. Still living in Naples, Lina has separated from her husband and is raising her young son while Elena has graduated from college and published a novel. But the actually events of the narrative are not the author's primary concern. Rather, it is the internal life of the two characters and how their own idiosyncratic reactions provide a shape to their stories. In addition to drawing complex characters, Ferrante provides a fascinating portrait of the culture of this slice of Italy during rapidly evolving times. Taken together, the novels are both a coming-of-age story and a coming-into-maturity tale of two diverse women who somehow maintain their own complex, and often convoluted, relationship. I can't remember when I have been so completely taken with a series of novels as I have been with these beautifully written and deeply realized stories, and I am having trouble waiting for the final volume. I recommend Those Who Leave and the two previous books in the series with absolutely no reservations.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ no payday of an ending but a nice reading experience
*by M***J on June 19, 2017*

Once, when I was a teenager back in the good old 1990's, I was reading Seventeen Magazine and came across a candy-bar ad. The ad was a picture of the candy-bar, and the slogan that it was "totally nuts." In the background there was a lot of text in very fine print. I started reading this text, which was a parody version of a 90's teenage girl rambling on forever about nothing. Phone conversations, clothing descriptions, the word "like" thrown in every tenth word or so. Yet I kept reading the whole thing. I was mesmerized and oddly soothed by the repetitive nothingness of the "story." And then, over halfway through, the story was interrupted by congratulations for making it through such a "nutty" story and offered me a free teeshirt. What does this have to do with Elena Ferrante's novel? The repetitive, almost nothingness of the story through the first three books had a similar feeling for me, and I found myself remembering that ad for the first time in many years. Much as I was compelled to finish the advertisement, I also could not put these books down, and I have now finished the 4th novel. This being said, I do not know if I can honestly describe them as being great storytelling. The protagonist (Lenù) is unlikable and rather selfish and short-sighted. She has enough intelligence to excel in school with a lot of hard work, but she never exhibits her own opinion and keeps trying to act in a way that people will reward with praise rather than have any ideas or presence of her own. But yet she is sympathetic at times as someone trying to be her best self, using education as the means. Lila, the friend, is fascinating, but remains a bit of an enigma throughout the books. I wished many times that we were reading the story from her perspective. But I did read it all, and the two women characters do grow up and hit milestones of life throughout the books, but the pattern that they go through remains the same always as they age. Definitely worth reading if you are a reader of novels. A well written, and a unique kind of story for sure, but kind of like reading a teenage girl's long ramble of her inner consciousness that she is aware someone is going to read one day. But the novel does provide plenty of deeper themes to think about and ponder. Feminism, poverty, the modern era and how it changed society, and yet how things stay the same too. The mid-century Italian setting was interesting and was a great atmosphere to the novels. Perhaps if a free tee-shirt had been offered in the middle of the book, it would have gotten 5 stars from me, but alas that was not the case.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Strong Bonds of Friendship Last Through Turbulent Times
*by K***N on November 23, 2025*

This is Volume 3 of a 4-volume series beginning with "My Brilliant Friend," about two women in post-war Naples who become best friends in childhood and remain heavily involved in each other's lives. In this volume they are adults who have temporarily gone their separate ways, one becoming a writer and the other teaching herself to run a computer business. They fall in and out of love; they give birth; they get involved in politics. The writing is intense and the characters are unforgettable. There is some graphic sexual content. The book was translated from the Italian, including Neapolitan dialect spoken by everyone in "the old neighborhood." The translator handled this masterfully. Thie book and its 3 companions leave most best sellers in the dust.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay: A Novel (Neapolitan Novels, 3)
- The Story of the Lost Child: A Novel (Neapolitan Novels, 4)
- The Story of a New Name: A Novel (Neapolitan Novels, 2)

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*Store origin: NL*
*Last updated: 2026-02-22*