
Note: Since the below post went live, The Lying Life of Adults has been held for a new pub date of September 1 worldwide.
Two big Elena Ferrante news items below!
First, the big new novel’s cover reveal for The Lying Life of Adults and a MASSIVE media excitement around it! MEDIA list below the cover!
Second, Maggie Gyllenhaal has announced that Oscar winning actress Olivia Colman will star as Leda in her upcoming adaptation of The Lost Daughter, 9781933372426.
This news has been carried in the following:
- ELLE Magazine (Coverage includes mention of June pub date for The Lying Life of Adults and March HBO release date for The Story of a New Name)
- Town and Country
- Literary Hub
- BBC America
- Variety
- The Hollywood Reporter
- Kirkus has reported on the casting news for The Lost Daughter.
- The Lost Daughter casting news is mentioned in Library Journal’s Book Pulse.
And the big cover reveal!

The Lying Life of Adults
Elena Ferrante
Translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein
Europa Editions
June 9, 2020
ISBN-13 978-1-6094-5591-0
More Media
- Entertainment Weekly Cover Reveal on the morning of February 11 was met with great enthusiasm. News was shared in the following publications:
- Kirkus
- Lit Hub
- Library Journal
- MSN
- The Fussy Librarian
- ELLE Magazine mentions The Lying Life of Adults in their coverage of the announcement that Olivia Colman will star in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of The Lost Daughter (this announcement also covered in Lit Hub, Variety, Deadline: Hollywood, The Hollywood Reporter, and more)
- Harper’s Bazaar “Best New Books of 2020”
- Publishers Weekly “Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2020”
- Los Angeles Review of Books has published an essay in which the writer, Martha Cooley, recounts having The Lying Life of Adults read to her in Italian
- Matador Network “20 books we can’t wait to read in 2020”
- Washington Post “Italians (mostly) love Elena Ferrante’s new novel. Here’s what Americans can expect.”
- Article syndicated in San Francisco Chronicle and Houston Chronicle
- BookPage “2020 preview: Most anticipated fiction”
- Literary Hub “Your 2020 Literary Events Calendar”
- ELLE “14 Best Books of 2020 So Far”
- Vulture/New York Magazine “32 Best New Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2020”
- Literary Hub “Most Anticipated Books of 2020”
- The New York Times Book Review “20 Books We’re Watching For in 2020”
- The Seattle Times “5 of the Most Highly Anticipated Books of 2020”
- BuzzFeed “Most Anticipated Books of 2020”
- The Millions “Most Anticipated Books of 2020”
- Library Journal “Most Anticipated Books of 2020”
- Thrillist “21 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2020”
- BBC Culture “10 Books to Read in 2020” in Jane Ciabattari’s column
- The Week “19 Books to Read in 2020”
- PureWow “Most Anticipated Books of 2020”
- Net-a-Porter “20 Things to Watch, Read, and See in 2020”
- Included on international “Most Anticipated” and “Best Books of 2020” lists: Toronto Star, Maclean’s (Canada), Guardian Book Calendar, Cosmopolitan (UK), HuffPost (UK), Financial Times (UK), The Evening Standard (UK), New Statesman (UK), Irish Examiner, Sydney Morning Herald, South China Morning Post, Mail and Guardian (South Africa), Times Select (South Africa)
- Esquire (Italy) “Best Books of 2019”
- Pajiba “Most Anticipated Books of 2020”
- Words Without Borders “What we look forward to reading in 2020”
- Big Other “Most Anticipated Small Press Books of 2020”
- Vogue “Most Anticipated Books of 2020”
- Entertainment Weekly “Most Anticipated Books of 2020”
- Washington Post includes the Italian release of this novel in the “Biggest Book News of the Year”
- Publishers Weekly has selected The Lying Life of Adults as one of the Top 10 books in their “Spring 2020 Announcements: Literary Fiction”
- TIME Magazine has been running a regularly updated online article called “Here’s Everything We Know So Far About Elena Ferrante’s New Novel, The Lying Life of Adults” (originally published October 14, updated each time new information becomes available to the media)
- The New York Times ran a story with quotes from Europa announcing the title and pub date for The Lying Life of Adults
- This announcement was covered widely, including announcements in New York Magazine, Elle Magazine, Bustle, LitHub, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Publishers Lunch, Forbes, Bookforum, The Bookseller (UK)
- The Associated Press ran an article on the buzz around the Italian release of the new novel, which was picked up widely, including in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Baltimore Sun, US News and World Report, and hundreds of other local news sources
- Original stories about the release of the Italian edition, including further description of the book, have run in The Guardian, The Telegraph, Kirkus, and more.
- Favorable reviews of the Italian edition have been published in The Guardian, The Times (UK), The Telegraph.