Children's Book Review: The Beach at Night is Elena Ferrante's children's book, an odd and unsettled kettle of fish. Not necessarily the sure success that readers depend on from her. The premise here, of a beloved doll forgotten on a beach by a little girl, is intriguing and rich with potential. It's also a palimpsest of the missing doll in Ferrante's The Lost Daughter (2006), in which the missing doll is the catalyst for the torrent of emotion that follows. Here the adventure of the lost doll is the story itself, but is very dark and takes a disturbing and frightening turn that can't be ignored. The darkness reminded me of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane and the scariness reminded me of The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami, but neither of those had the elements here that will make it difficult for parents and children's story time at libraries. Possibly European children are more mature and are exposed to adult material at a younger age, but American parents would spend more time explaining the language and situations (this is a read-to-your-child kind of book) than on the story itself. Given the scariness, comforting the child may also be required. I can't see The Beach at Night ever being read aloud (without censorship) during story time at a library or book shop. The twist is that the ever-reliable Ann Goldstein apparently translated what is relatively mild language in Italian to English words that would be unacceptable for (American) children in a public setting. Although I've read everything Elena Ferrante has written, I'm not her target audience. So I have to look at The Beach at Night as an interesting experiment, an outlier in Ferrante's body of work, an oddity that isn't quite for children or for adults. But I did love the illustrations by Mara Cerri. [2½★]
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