The Lying Life of Adults

The Lying Life of Adults - Review

The Lying Life of Adults shows us, once more, that the teenage years and growing up can be painful.

Giovanna is the main character of this story, and she is feeling all the fast changes adolescence demands in a deeply divided town. Before this situation, her body and her opinions and desires are changing fast. Perhaps, too fast.

Parents aren’t perfect.

It is usually in those teenage years that we realize our parents aren’t perfect. They are humans with all the flaws that that implies. Giovanna is no different. Her parents are not as she thought they were, and her perfect family isn’t perfect at all.

Those adults, those references that she admires, hide things, lie, and do things that she considers wrong. They are like everybody else. They are not heroes. When we realize that our parents are not the superheroes we believed they were when we were very young children, it can hurt.

Why is it so important? Because when we realize they also can fail, with the destruction of that image, we also lose our sense of safety. The world has become more unpredictable.

Rebel

The sweet and caring Giovanna disappears as quickly as her perfect family. An inopportune glance, a troubling sight, rises a sea of changes, and there is no turning back. Now, Giovanna has her eyes open, and she wants to understand everything.

Yet, one story is, in reality, many stories according to the perspective of the person telling it. When Giovanna meets the side of the family with whom she was never allowed to have a relationship, she realizes that the stories she heard all her life have a different version. One that she is only now starting to learn.

She feels betrayed by those who should protect her and enter a path that could end in self-destruction. She feels more and more attracted by what’s forbidden - the wrong people and the wrong side of the city. Like any other teenage girl: if it is wrong for her parents, it is right for her.

Something caught my attention here: her parents’ attitude. They showed that they were not happy with the situation, but interesting enough, they don’t openly forbid her from doing anything. Of course, not many parents choose this option but being Giovanna a teenager, it would be the most intelligent choice.

You can’t put it down.

The Lying Life of Adults is one more excellent piece of literature. Elena Ferrante keeps being herself in this book: raw, straightforward, and engaging. It is nearly impossible to put down the book.

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