Book lovers have been journeying to Naples in droves in search of the locations so vividly described by Elena Ferrante in her best-selling Neapolitan Novels. The tetralogy, which charts the fraught friendship between female protagonists Lila Cerullo and Lenù Greco, struggling to escape their impoverished and violent lives, has now been adapted into a much anticipated 32-part TV series, set to unravel over the next few months.
Travellers have been flocking to Naples to find the locations described in the book. Image by Giuseppe Di Vaio
The first episode has launched, streaming the seductive underbelly of Naples into the homes of fans across the world. Directed by Italian native Saverio Costanzo and produced by a transatlantic collaboration between HBO and Italy’s RAI Fiction/Timvision, the translation to screen premiere was received with a ten-minute standing ovation at Venice Film Festival in September. If the books were a catalyst for travel, the critically lauded TV adaptation, which has been sold to over 50 territories for broadcast, will certainly make Naples a destination for 2019.
The series is expected to make Naples a top destination in 2019. Image by Giuseppe Di Vaio
The first few episodes unfurl in an isolated place simply referred to in the novels as ‘the neighbourhood’ but widely acknowledged in real life as the easterly Rione Luzzatti, which was recreated meticulously for the series on a vast set just outside Naples, costing over €6m. Speaking to the Guardian, director Costanzo explained that their intention was ‘not to make postcards of Naples’, rather to stay true to the pseudonymous authors descriptions of the city. The dusky five-story 1950s housing blocks facing onto communal courtyards, divided by wide desolate avenues, are likely to surprise fans who tend to imagine cobbled backstreets and centuries-old architecture more akin to an Italian city stereotype.
The area isn’t quite the cobbled Italian streets people might imagine. Image by Giuseppe Di Vaio
Nonetheless, it is the quintessential community of characters; shoemakers, grocers and vegetable sellers so explicitly detailed in the opening pages of the book which serve as the reason to visit the sedate suburban neighbourhood. Pass by the few remaining local establishments; start at Bar Parisi for a coffee or Marco’s Enoteca for a €1 glass of wine poured direct from the barrel and then delve into Il Pasticciello bakery for a warm sfogliatella pastry.
Meanwhile as a homage to Ferrante, a vast mural of the young girls faces will be painted across the façade of two buildings in the neighbourhood, crowdfunded by local residents, as they eagerly await her adoring fans.
*It launched in the USA on 18 November, UK 19 November, and Italy it will run on 27 November.
By Sophia Seymour
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