Avoid a wrong turn
with care planning
BOOK REVIEW
Stopping for independent
financial advice can make
a big difference
My Brilliant Friend
Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
How am I going to
pay for my care?
How much
might it
cost me?
This is the first novel in the
epic saga that has been
dubbed “the Neapolitan
Novels.” It starts with
the disappearance of
one elderly woman and
continues with the narrator
recounting their 50 year
friendship but it is for
the fourth novel, and not
this one, to provide the
conclusion. However this
book stands well alone
should you not have the
appetite for the full series.
Will I have
to sell my
house?
What can
I afford?
First published in 2012 I
may be a little late to the
book but the final novel
of the series was only
published last year and
2016 is certainly the year
for Elena Ferrante who has
just been shortlisted for the
Man Booker International
Prize and been named by
Time Magazine as one of
2016’s “100 Most Influential
People.” All this despite the
fact that “Elena Ferrante”
is a pseudonym and the
author has managed to
conceal her true identity
for nearly 25 years. In fact
we can only assume “she”
is a she but the general
consensus is that only
a woman would be able
to write so movingly and
truthfully about the lifelong
relationship of two women,
the contradictions of love
and rivalry, sisterhood and
jealousy that are all so
present that they almost
gain a physicality.
01243 642121
www.westsussexconnecttosupport.org/
carewise
[email protected]
l
l
l
Help to consider clients’ care options
Money advice and benefits check
Comprehensive care services information
Approved care fee specialists who are:
–
–
–
–
–
–
I am always nervous of a
novel that has to start with
an index of characters,
especially as the Italian
names are not naturally
familiar to me. However
from the start you are swept
into life in 1950s Naples
and I love a story that has a
qualified independent financial advisers
specialists in long-term care advice
accredited by the Society of Later Life Advisers
approved by Trading Standards’ Buy with Confidence
trained in safeguarding adults
Disclosure and Barring Service checked
WS31459 4.16
l
socio-economic backdrop
so you can feel like you’re
smarter on your historical
knowledge by the end.
Elena and Lila are both
gifted students in a poor
but vibrant neighbourhood,
their paths diverge and
yet the friendship (and
all its obvious and subtle
complexit ies) endures.
The writing is brilliant and
absorbing with a real depth
to the believable characters.
I was lucky to be on holiday
whilst reading this so I could
devour it in huge chunks in
a short space of time. I’ve
already ordered the follow
ups and indeed in physical
form so I can thrust them
into the hands of those
not converted to Ferrante
and thereafter give them
an exclusive place on my
bookshelf. I apologise in
advance to my friends and
family who I will be ignoring
for the next few weeks!
By Rebecca Louis