The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante

Books, Baby! continues its sixth season with a discussion of The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante, a novel that begins with a seemingly ordinary holiday and unfolds into a piercing examination of motherhood, desire, and identity.

In this episode, we explore the novel’s unsettling honesty, its complex portrayal of maternal ambivalence, and the questions it raises about the versions of ourselves we leave behind in order to become who we are. A conversation about expectations placed on women and mothers, and the uncomfortable truths that lie beneath the stories we tell about our lives.

Books mentioned in this episode:

• The Days of Abandonment - Elena Ferrante
• The Lying Life of Adults - Elena Ferrante
• My Brilliant Friend - Elena Ferrante
• The Story of the Night - Colm Tóibín
• The Dangers of Smoking in Bed - Mariana Enriquez
• Rejection - Tony Tulathimutte
• The Mushroom Tapes - Helen Garner et. al.
• Earthlings - Sayaka Murata
• Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata
• Fruit Fly - Josh Silver

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