Bad news for American fans of Elena Ferrante: You’re going to have to wait a few months longer to get your hands on the Italian author’s latest novel.
Europa Editions, which publishes the English-language translations of Ferrante’s books, announced that it’s moving the publication of The Lying Life of Adults from June 9 to Sept. 1. The date change is due to “the varied effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the publishing and bookselling industries,” the publisher said in a news release.
Ferrante’s books have become immensely popular all over the world. The pseudonymous author first gained global fame with the publication of The Neapolitan Quartet, her series of novels that spawned an HBO television show.
Europa’s editor in chief, Michael Reynolds, said that Ferrante’s new novel is “so propulsive and gripping, it would almost certainly be a success whenever we published it.
“But at this point it’s clear that publishing in June would mean cutting many brick and mortar stores out of the equation, and that’s something that we’re not willing to do,” Reynolds said. “We want to publish The Lying Life of Adults when the market is fully functioning, so that the bookstores and booksellers that have worked so effectively to build Ferrante’s readership and reputation over the years have a chance to sell this new book as only they know how.”
Europa isn’t alone. More than 25 other international publishers have agreed to move the publication of the book back to September, the publisher said. Ferrante fans who can’t bear waiting another seven months for her latest can always download Duolingo—the novel was published in Italian last November.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
