Last week we gathered together a panel of booksellers to discuss the books of Elena Ferrante, a certifiable literary sensation who’s been heralded as the most important Italian novelist of her generation and earned herself a massive following. Since the Australian release of My Brilliant Friend (the first of her Neapolitan Novels) by Text Publishing, Readings have sold thousands of copies of this exceptional novel.

If you’re new to Ferrante, here’s a collection of staff testimonials about her work that we prepared earlier…

On the night of our panel, the Carlton shop was packed, with audience members even sitting on the stage alongside the panellists. Our chair, Chris Gordon, explained that the panellists would discuss Ferrante’s work as a whole (in particular, the Neapolitan Novels which had recently concluded with the release of The Story Of A Lost Child) and that we’d decided to aim for a spoiler-free discussion.

This was a disappointment for some readers who were very keen to dissect the events of the novels – but a relief for others who were only part-way through the books. Happily, several of the former stayed for a wine and chat following the discussion, winding up arguing over the meaning of certain plot twists.

As is the way with any discussions of a great book, we inevitably ended up with more questions than ever before by the end of the night. However, here are some quotes and key takeaways from the night…

• The panellists disagreed on whether the reveal of the author would add anything to the books (some felt it was better not to know who Ferrante is, others wanted to know every detail of her life), though all panellists agreed it was not necessary to the books in any way.
• The panellists talked about how these novels have an element of soap opera to them, in their content and structure. One panellist Bronte Coates put forth the argument that this could enhance their reputation as feminists works.
• The many ways in which these works are feminist was discussed in detail. When the panel was asked whether men would read and enjoy these books given their explicitly female focus, panellist Joe Rubbo said that if anything, they should be “required reading” for men.
• Panellist Chris Gordon talked about an interview where Ferrante had likened the pain of losing child to the pain of being the lost child. This was the essence of the books for her.
• For another panellist Nina Kenwood female friendship lay at the heart of the book. It was “the greatest story about a friendship she had ever read”.

Ultimately, we’re not ready to stop talking about this author yet. As our reviewer of the The Story Of A Lost Child wrote, all the panellists agreed that these books are among the most important of our reading life.