Although the Italian novelist Elena Ferrante, a pseudonym, has been writing her fictions for several decades, it seems that she is just now being widely read. As many know, she doesn't give interviews or readings or make public appearances; however, in the Spring, 2015 issue of the Paris Review, she is interviewed by her publishers.

Her public absence has understandably aroused a great deal of speculation among reviewers and critics about whether she's someone well known, perhaps a famous Italian author, a man even. I say, "Good for her!" Enough already of writing celebrities who preen and vamp. FWIW I'm convinced Elena Ferrante is a woman. Whoever she is, and concur with those who say that she's brilliant and ferociously honest. Her writing drags you through the rough streets of Naples, the halls of academe, and assorted households then leaves you gasping on the sidewalk. And if you're a woman, she lets you know that you aren't alone with those fearsome things you've never told anyone about yourself. Her books include: Days of Abandonment; The Lost Daughter; Troubled Love; the Neapolitan quartet including: My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, The Story of the Lost Child (September, 2015). Another after that. Clear your calendar. It's doubtful you'll have time for anything else once you start reading.