Elena Ferrante’s ‘Lying Life of Adults’ to Be Adapted by Netflix, Italy’s Fandango

Netflix and Italy’s Fandango are teaming up to develop a series based on “The Lying Life of Adults,” the latest novel by globally bestselling Italian novelist Elena Ferrante.

The book, which became an immediate bestseller in Italy after its November 2019 publication locally, will be launched in 25 countries on September 1 and will be published in English by Europa Editions U.S. and U.K.

“The Lying Life of Adults” is a portrayal of a young woman named Giovanna’s transition from childhood to adolescence in the 1990s. “Giovanna is searching for her true reflection in two kindred cities that fear and detest one another: the Naples of the heights, which assumes a mask of refinement, and the Naples of the depths, a place of excess and vulgarity,” according to promotional materials provided by Europa Editions.

“She moves between these two cities, disoriented by the fact that, whether high or low, neither city seems to offer answers or escape.”

Named one of the most influential people of the year in 2016 by TIME Magazine, Ferrante is considered one of the world’s most read and beloved 21st-century writers.

Fandango is among the Italian companies, along with Wildside, that previously teamed up with Rai and HBO on the TV series “My Brilliant Friend,” based on Ferrante’s “Neapolitan Novels” trilogy, the second season of which recently aired in the U.S.

Netflix and Fandango previously collaborated on the witchcraft series “Luna Nera.”