Coeur de Lion, Bath, November 7th 2019
The coming-of-age story about two adolescent girls growing up in an impoverished neighbourhood in Naples in the 1950s/1960s. Lena who recounts the story in her retirement takes the path of education and hard academic work while Lila (whose parents do not support her education) uses her wits and beauty to prevail. There is a constant undertone of admiration/jealousy between the two main characters which inspires them throughout the story.Andrew had already seen the story on Netflix and wondered whether this had influenced his perception of the book which he thought was very good. This was a compelling love story about two friends with their gritty background brilliantly presented. Lena- One of the two main protagonists was at times fearless, bold and impulsive and yet at others considered in her actions. She knew that she had power over others and particularly the men of the neighbourhood. The story depicted the lives of women in a neighbourhood who bottled up their anger and grudges. He liked the descriptions and felt the book had a dreamy quality running throughout. He planned to see the remaining three parts on Netflix.
Mark W who enjoyed this book started reading in Italian and then halfway reverted to English. He felt that the book lost a lot in translation. This was a book about relationships between two girls/women surviving in a male environment/culture. He highlighted the scene before the wedding when Lena is helping Lila bathe and who she has seen naked for the first time. The book tells of the anticipated “impregnation“ of Lila by Stefano who will later “sully“ her body in the anticipated brutal wedding night that all new brides have to expect.
Mark T enjoyed this book immensely and look forward to reading the next chapter. He highlighted the chapter about the girls leaving their neighbourhood through the tunnel and the terror they experienced when presented with life outside of their own environment.He felt the book was well described particularly Lila and the fact that she dropped everything for marriage.
Richard liked the book very much although initially confused with a large number of similar names he went with the flow-he felt that it didn’t really matter who was who as the characters fell into place. This book about two girls presents both girls views of the other and the respect and admiration they had for each other. Richard had spent months in Naples many years ago carrying out research so knew the localities and the descriptions which were evocative of the Italian lifestyles that he knew from that time. Sadly he commented that a lot of things have not changed. Men blame women for everything. The solution is education which together with parental support is vital to bring about change to the way of life depicted in the story.
Willm enjoyed this book immensely which “he could not fault“. The story about the sociological and psychological study of two relationships. He liked the directness in the style of writing- nothing overdramatic. Lena is always comparing herself with her friend Lila. who picks up on an idea and then moves on fast to the next. In direct contrast with Lena’s lifestyle of academic drudgery Lila confines herself to enjoying and living a wealthy lifestyle. She seems trapped by her socio-economic status and although she can imagine a more fulfilling life and is capable of attaining it ,she seems psychologically and emotionally unable to move beyond her community. She thus drops her education. Lila has an aggressive response to any problem. She is fearless. Willm liked the scene during the firework display when the competitive firework launches ended in the Solara Bros shooting back with pistols!
Chris B disagreed with the comment by two others that the girls were in love with each other. He felt that it was rather simply the intensity of an adolescent friendship that was being described. It didn’t bother him who the characters were - he just read on. He thought that there were similarities with the recently read book Educated by Tara Westover where the protagonist would have to accept the life that she was living and even though she knew that there was something else out there.
Chris enjoyed the tension in the relationships between the girls and found the plot not over important. The book used shoes as a symbol of aspiration with Lila seeing herself at the top of the tree… In Educated it was interesting to note that the three kids who got an education then left home thus alienating themselves from their family. Elena is a “foil” in contrast to Lila. This was a well written depiction of life but with no key themes. It didn’t tell you more about society generally.
John struggled with this book particularly the middle part he felt there was too much teenage angst. He observed that the chapter about the girls leaving their neighbourhood through the tunnel was a metaphor for the 1950s creating a “pressure cooker“ and period of change. Lila was not a nice character - she had a dark side to her. The wedding created a focal point at the end of the story and offered a parents perspective looking down on the intense relationships of the girls.
Steve made connections between the wedding in the story and the film the DeerHunter. He liked this book with some very “powerful” scenes depicting the rites of passage of two young girls with each trying to work out what and why she feels about the other. He found the description about the storm and the girls leaving the neighbourhood through the tunnel very memorable as was Lenas stay in Ischia and her relief at being able to escape the entrapment of her neighbourhood. He found several parallels with Jane Austen but as ever criticised the translation of the book which had far too many Americanisms.
Chris W felt that this was a ”marmite“ book with good and bad facets. He disliked the numerous characters with similar names and found the first half of the book did not appeal and that the characters did not did not come alive. however he liked the gritty description of the impoverished Neapolitan neighbourhood and the detailed and precise writing style. The story constantly described the pressures imposed upon women by the macho men in the community and in particular the underlying fear and threat of the powerful Solara family.
There were similarities in this book with the underlying fear described in “The Milkman” which the group had read recently where the protagonist had been selected by the local leader of the IRA to be his woman.
In conclusion the majority really enjoyed this book with a sizeable minority who were less inspired.
