Ferrante book sales up after report on author’s identity

NEW YORK – The alleged revelation of the real name of bestselling author Elena Ferrante has led to a wave of criticism and to a surge in sales for her acclaimed quartet of “Neapolitan” novels.

As of midday Monday, two of the books placed high on Amazon.com’s “Movers and Shakers,” works that have jumped furthest on the overall bestseller list over the past 24 hours. Book One, “My Brilliant Friend,” ranked highest at No. 46 on bestseller list. The four novels, original published in Italian, have sold more than 1 million copies worldwide and set off intense speculation over Ferrante’s identity.

The author wrote under a pen name well before her recent success, telling the Paris Review in 2015 that she disliked self-promotion and found that public anonymity opened a “creative space” for her work.

The sales bounce comes after a report that appeared in The New York Review of Books and other publications citing extensive documentation to show that Ferrante is likely a German-born translator living in Rome. Ferrante’s publisher has declined to confirm or deny the findings and asked that Ferrante’s privacy be respected.

Numerous writers, including Jojo Moyes and Garth Greenwell, have condemned the story as intrusive.