"After some time in Capri, we ended our travels in Naples so that we could read Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels in their entirety there. It was July, very hot, and we were greeted by the scent of the sea, the old stone mixed with the salt and the brine and the smells of cooking. It was marvelous. This was our time together to talk about everything that was happening in our lives and in the books."
"Our hotel was partly designed by the modernist architect Gio Ponti-including the fabrics, the beds, the sinks, and the crazy rooftop pool. We read, mostly in our room, like panting puppies in front of the faltering air conditioning unit. When we weren't reading, we were walking to get lost. We'd turn down some tiny street and it would open straight into a person's kitchen."
"Seeing those objects was so fascinating because you know what happened to the people who owned them, the despair and how they died, and who they died with. One of my favorite things we saw was a simple cast-bronze skillet-almost exactly like the one I had at home. To think of someone in an ancient Pompeii villa using my skillet was such a strange piece of connection."
In 2014, a mother and daughter traveled to Naples to immerse themselves in Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels while experiencing the city firsthand. They stayed at the Royal Continental Hotel, designed by modernist architect Gio Ponti, and spent their days reading in their room and wandering through Naples' winding streets. They visited Castel dell'Ovo, watched fishing boats unload their catch, and explored the National Archaeological Museum to view artifacts from Pompeii. The trip held special significance as they knew it would be their last such journey together before the daughter's first child was born. The experience combined literary engagement with sensory immersion in Neapolitan culture, food, and history.
Read at Conde Nast Traveler
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