Thank you to Net Galley and Europa Editions for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. In four essays, the author discussed her approach to writing, her influences and struggles and how she became and reader and a writer. This is the first book I've read by the author. There was a lot of interesting information but maybe a bit too literary for me as nothing really resonated and I felt like I couldn't relate. Nonetheless, I'm sure many people would enjoy it if well read and interested in doing a deep dive.

In four essays, Ferrante reflects on the process of writing and developing her own considerable talents of becoming a writer. She includes excerpts of literary gems and is brutally honest about her evolution as an author.

Thank you Netgalley and Allen Lane for the ARC. I think most of the literary world knows that Elena Ferrante is an exceptional writer and this is just further proof.

Elena Ferrante's reflections are articulated with such clarity and perceptiveness that i was really enthralled by this work. it is relatively short but it does make you think...

Ferrante is amazing, as we already know. This is an excellent addition to my favorite titles on writing: Bird by Bird, On Writing, etc. Since she's so mysterious in general, it was nice having this insight on her writing.

Oh my, this was a feast for the soul. In four essays, commissioned by University of Bologna delivered in 2020 as part of The (Umberto) Eco Lectures (read by others to maintain her anonymity), Ferrante goes back to her beginnings and tracks her evolution as a reader and writer. Finding it difficult to stay within the red margins of those infuriating notebooks we were made to use as children, she finds herself questioning these physical limitations within a wider context throughout her life. Is our writing meant to be contained, perfected? Is overspilling always a disaster? How to establish your own style if you're only following someone's footsteps?

I found it intoxicating to read about her thinking process of literary progress and the transformation or rather, the several transformations, she went through as a writer before reaching some level of satisfaction. And having read a lot of her work, it does illuminate the differences between her earlier and later works and why and what that shift meant for her. Of course, she traces major influences and generously shares references: Dante, Emily Dickinson, Gertrude Stein Adriana Cavarero etc.

In one of her columns published a couple of years ago, I remember reading about something she said about the upcoming film adaptation of "The Lost Daughter". She expressed, and I'm paraphrasing here, how she's given the female director total freedom to do what she will with the material to express her vision, simply because of the fact that she was a woman, and if it were a man she would have interfered with the process. In one of her essays here, too, she talks about the void of women in the literary canon as creators and the problem this poses for women who are writing today, having basically inherited a language by men:

"I now think that if literature written by women wants to have its own writing of truth, the work of each of us is needed. For a long span of time we’ll have to give up the distinction between those who make only average books and those who create inevitable verbal universes".

Amen to that. Ferrante the feminist.

I've saved pages of notes and quotes and will be going back to her beautiful deliberations often, I know it. This is a must-read for anyone interested in writing and/or is a serious fan of Ferrante's work.

Thanks to Europa Editions and NetGalley for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Shockingly, In the Margins was my first exposure to Ferrante. After reading, I immediately went on a spree of consuming each of her stunning pieces. I couldn't be more happy with the fact that this title was my first introduction to Elena Ferrante's works in that seeing her insights and perspectives on writing has allowed me to understand her other books and the works of so many other books so much more greatly. Ferrante provides such a unique, refreshing and dominantly feminine perspective and In the Margins should be read by anyone who appreciates the art that is literature.

Ferrante on Ferrante, the writing process, literary canon, and so much more! I've read her fiction but admittedly, not much of her non-fiction so this was a delight. I especially found "Aquamarine" and "History I" revelatory.

It's fascinating to get an intimate look at Elena Ferrante's writing process: there's a lot in these four essays to ponder and to give fresh insight to readers and writers alike. The first three essays are especially brilliant; the fourth, alas, seems to struggle a little for cohesion. Nonetheless, a rich and rewarding read from one of our most talented authors: highly recommended.

Many thanks to Europa Editions and to Netgalley for the opportunity to read IN THE MARGINS.

I am perhaps reading Ferrante backwards, as I began reading these essays before reading any of the novels that made her famous. But I am always interested in how a writer is made, how she comes to her subject, how her voice develops over time. In the Margins is an intriguing glimpse into a writer's intellectual and emotional development. "For me true writing is not...an elegant, studied gesture but a convulsive act," she writes. Added to the compulsion to write is a strong opinion on what kind of writing she wants to do: "Beautiful writing becomes beautiful when it loses its harmony and has the desperate power of the ugly."

The book made me want to read Ferrante's novels, to see "the desperate power of the ugly" that has captivated readers worldwide.

'In the Margins' is one of the most engaging reflections on writing that I have written. She combines literary theory with a kind of autobiography of her development as a writer and does so with such precision and exactness of feeling that Ann Goldstein's translation work is particularly incredible here.

For this being a collection of four independent essays, the first three definitely felt more cohesive and the fourth makes for a little disjointed of a conclusion, but in the context of her writing and ideas this is a small complaint.

Once again, Elena Ferrante proves just how fantastic she is as a writer. It's great to get into her process and see how her writing develops.

I feel very lucky to have gotten an ARC of this, so thank you Europa Editions.

In case we needed more proof that Elena Ferrante is one of the best living authors we have right now. Beautiful essays about what Ferrante does best.

This collection of essays gives a clear account of how Ferrante's writing and creation of female characters has developed over the years since her days of school. It provides great insight into Ferrante's thought processes when writing and developing ideas.

I admired how Ferrante was able to weave the analogy of the cage into all four essays. It was cleverly done and worked to connect all four essays. The overarching theme of the essays is a deep exploration of the female in literature with a whole essay dedicated to Dante and his character Beatrice. I enjoyed the first and second essays. The first in particular made me reminisce on some old school memories. The second essay was beautifully written and the relationship between the two characters in 'Sexual Difference' was explored skillfully. I found the third essay and in particular, the fourth essay laborious to read. Over complex at times and wearying, I was relieved when the essays ended. The fourth essay also ended quite abruptly and I was surprised that Ferrante finished this essay without linking back more to the previous essays which she had done throughout the rest of the collection.

There are parts of these speeches that are written in such a convoluted way that they are totally opaque to me. I felt this about the first speech especially, but less and less so as the series went on. The parts about how particular bits of writing directly inspired Ferrante's own writing was especially interesting me - in large part, I think because she cited the direct examples of inspiration. I think my big issue with the first speech was that it didn't really have any specifics, and that made it that much harder to grasp.

In any event, I came away intrigued by Ferrante's descriptions of her writing process, and really wanting to read The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (though not Dante, oof!). I think anyone who likes Ferrante's work, or misses going to book readings, will be interested in this book...although I'll probably end up sticking to Ferrante's fiction from here on out.

My first time reading Elena Ferrante's writing, but certainly not my last. I can't wait to pick up her novels after this beautiful introduction.

At this point, Elena Ferrante could do no wrong. This is a series of speeches delivered on the craft of writing and I especially loved the glimpses into her feminine writing and her female characters.

Thank you so much, Europa Editions, for this arc.

Ferrante’s writing displays a tangible power, an almost operatic intensity and energy all of its own, and this collection of 4 essays is as expressive and thought-provoking as one would have hoped.

She writes – self-effacingly – of a journey of self-transformation to become a writer, of her passion, discipline and determination. We learn of her desire to break free from the ‘cage’ and release the maelstrom of ideas and influences rushing through her mind. We feel her frustrations at every turn as she tries to overcome writer’s block:

<i>“… the compass that had directed me had lost its needle.”< /i>

Such literary greats as Dante, Woolf, Beckett and Stein provide guidance and inspiration throughout her life.
There’s a lot of soul-searching. As a young female writer, she lacks self-belief and doubts her talent; she writes to a set of self-prescribed (harsh) rules and stays resolutely within the ‘margins’ - her boundaries.

Yet stimulus arrives from no less a source than Dickinson, whose poem suggests resistance and that the key to writing beautifully yet stylistically lies all around.

<i>“But History and I
Find all the Witchcraft that we need
Around us, every Day – ”< /i>

As Ferrante remarks:

<i>“… the pure and simple joining of the female “I” to History changes History.”< /i>

My thanks to NetGalley and Europa Editions for granting this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anytime a fiction writer writes about writing I am absolutely obsessed and this is no different. This book is so smart and I will surely be reading it again in the future.

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I had never heard of Elena Ferrante before reading this collection of essays, but I now want to read everything she's ever written. Her ability to tie together ideas, however seemingly unrelated, is almost magical, though you still get the sense that a tremendous amount of work has been put in to achieving this level of ability.

There are three essays in this collection, brief enough to finish reading within an hour but filled with enough wisdom to return to again and again.

I'd recommend this to anyone interested in writing, reading, or learning in general.