The Beach at Night

Children's novel written by Elena Ferrante in 2007

The Beach at Night

Editor| Edizioni e/o
Author| Elena Ferrante
Audio read by| Natalie Portman
Original title| La Spiaggia di Notte
Translator| Ann Goldstein
Illustrator| Mara Cerri
Genres| Children's literature

Publication date

| 2007

Published in English

| 2016
Pages| 48
ISBN| 9781609453701

The Beach at Night is a children's novel written by Italian writer Elena Ferrante.

## Plot

[edit]

Doll Celine is forgotten at the beach and has to fend for herself at night. The Mean Beach Attendant of Sunset attempts to steal all her words, the Fire tries to burn her, and the Sea refuses to answer her prayers. Above all, she is sad to have been left behind by her mamma, the little girl Mati, who forgot her when she got a new kitten. She has an eventful evening, but when the sun rises, Celine will finally be able to see everything a little more clearly.

## Reception

[edit]

The novel was well received by critics, who praised its dark tone. According to Alex O’Connell, writing for The Times, it has a "complex girl-doll heroine",[1] In the Sydney Morning Herald, the novel was called an "unnerving little gem."[2]

According to The New York Times, the short novel follows a European tradition of dark fairy tales being present to young children, and the book had been classified by its US publisher as an adult book. They also argue that the translation of the book includes an expletive, instead of a more child-appropriate word found in the original.[3] Nora Krug, writing for the Washington Post, notices that the book deals with difficult topics: abandonment, jealousy, death by drowning and fire, but also that "Celina's tale is powerfully told and complex".[4]

## Bibliography

[edit]

### In Italian

[edit]

* La Spiaggia di Notte. Illustrazioni di Mara Cerri. 2007, Edizioni E/O.

### In English

[edit]

* The Beach at Night. 2007, Europa Editions. Translated by Ann Goldstein, Illustrated by Mara Cerri. ISBN 9781609453701.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ O’Connell, Alex. "The Beach at Night by Elena Ferrante". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
2. ^ Goldsworthy, Kerryn (2016-11-26). "The Beach at Night review: Elena Ferrante's biggest surprise - a children's book". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
3. ^ Russo, Maria (2016-10-12). "Elena Ferrante's Picture Book Embraces the Dark Side". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
4. ^ Krug, Nora (2016-10-13). "The latest Elena Ferrante controversy: Her children's book, 'The Beach at Night'". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-02-27.

* v
* t
* e

Elena Ferrante

Novels|

| Neapolitan Novels|

* My Brilliant Friend (2011)
* The Story of a New Name (2012)
* Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (2013)
* The Story of the Lost Child (2014)

|

Other|

* Troubling Love (1992)
* The Days of Abandonment (2002)
* The Lost Daughter (2006)
* The Lying Life of Adults (2019)

Children's fiction|

* The Beach at Night (2007)

Non-fiction|

* Frantumaglia (2003)
* Incidental Inventions (2019)
* In the Margins: On the Pleasures of Reading and Writing (2021)

Adaptations|

| Film|

* Nasty Love (1995)
* The Days of Abandonment (2005)
* The Lost Daughter (2021)

|

Television|

* My Brilliant Friend (2018–24)
* The Lying Life of Adults (2023)

Related|

* Ferrante Fever (2017)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template