Sonja
A marvelous end to the Neapolitan Quartet, it sees Elena return to her childhood neighbourhood in Naples and become closer than ever with Lila, both simultaneously pregnant. Sadly, the happy content times are suddenly over when a tragedy occurs which changes Lila forever. The final part is overall a pleasure to read with many independent storylines coming to an end and characters finding closure. One of my personal favourite conclusions is how Elena realises that Nino was never so amazing as she imagined him to be, but rather a self-serving and narcissistic man who got as far in his career as he did only thanks to taking advantage of women who admired him. The only thing I did not enjoy, was the epilogue - it could've sent a more substantial message...but maybe, because Elena had stopped telling the story of Lila and others, she didn't have anything more interesting to say in the end, because she wasn't so original or brilliant after all? All in all, I am very satisfied with how the quartet ended.
A marvelous end to the Neapolitan Quartet, it sees Elena return to her childhood neighbourhood in Naples and become closer than ever with Lila, both simultaneously pregnant. Sadly, the happy content times are suddenly over when a tragedy occurs which changes Lila forever. The final part is overall a pleasure to read with many independent storylines coming to an end and characters finding closure. One of my personal favourite conclusions is how Elena realises that Nino was never so amazing as she imagined him to be, but rather a self-serving and narcissistic man who got as far in his career as he did only thanks to taking advantage of women who admired him. The only thing I did not enjoy, was the epilogue - it could've sent a more substantial message...but maybe, because Elena had stopped telling the story of Lila and others, she didn't have anything more interesting to say in the end, because she wasn't so original or brilliant after all? All in all, I am very satisfied with how the quartet ended.