The Lying Life of Adults

We were treated to some fascinating insights by group members Jo and Erica with their own personal experiences of Naples. Vibrant, loud, gritty, importance of family, contrasts between the middle class, affluent Naples and the working class area. Warned not to make it obvious one is a tourist in certain parts of the city.
Notable, it was felt, however was the absence of any mention of the Neapolitan mafia - the Camorra - perhaps, it was suggested, this was the author’s own fear of any possible retribution?
Subject matter was not of any real interest to some. Female adolescence.
Caricatures. Didn't really like any of the characters or really care what happened to them.
Thought Roberto was going to turn out to be a gay priest. Haven't finished it yet - probably won’t bother.
Stilted translation. It was Italian sentence structure but therefore did not flow in English - might be a better read in Italian. One of Cliff's students was reading in the Italian. "He detained his interlocutors" !!
Persevered with it but found it repetitive.
Was looking forward to reading an Italian novel but disappointed.
Symbolism of the bracelet. Betrayal, lies, deceit, control, manipulation.
Vittoria a Sophia Loren type character - tart with a heart.
Feeling of claustrophobia whilst reading the book
Interesting portrayal of the class system in the city
Accurate portrayal of the inner life of an adolescent girl - her self doubt, her hormones, her passions and obsessions, her angst, mood swings, insecurities, love affairs, and gradual growth into womanhood. Sometimes tedious though.
Too many references to street names - although I did look them up on google Earth and verify the details and descriptions.
Disliked the ending - her surrendering her virginity as rite of passage.
The Netflix version might be better .

A precocious narrator, Giovanna, on the cusp of adulthood and determined to forge her own path. As we follow her through her rather reckless and naive attempts to find out who she is I was struck by her innocence, and the manipulative behaviour of those around her.
Her story begins with her overhearing a remark from her father about how she is becoming ugly, like her aunt Vittoria. As this is someone she doesn’t know, the comment arouses her curiosity and Giovanna begins a determined effort to learn more about her father’s family. What she unearths demonstrates just how unpleasant adults can be, and ably highlights the dysfunctional family relationships she experiences.
There was quite a lot of focus on Giovanna’s sexual experiments, and a thwarted attempt to seduce the fiancé of a family friend. There was a real lack of intimacy here, and I can’t decide if it was refreshing to see how normally sex was regarded or if it was depressing since there was no sense of importance given to the act itself. For me, part of the problem was that Giovanna wasn’t presented particularly sympathetically so it was hard to really engage with her melodrama.