Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay is a 2013 novel written by Italian author Elena Ferrante. It is the third installment of her Neapolitan Novels, preceded by My Brilliant Friend and The Story of a New Name, and succeeded by The Story of the Lost Child. It was translated to English by Ann Goldstein in 2014. The novel was adapted by HBO and RaiTV in their series My Brilliant Friend. The content of this novels corresponds to the third season of the show, which aired in February 2022. Plot Before her wedding, Elena briefly goes back to Naples. Lila finally confides to her about the bad situation she is living in the bologna factory where she works, where she is subject to brutal work and to sexual harassment. Pasquale and Nadia convince Lila to go to a meeting of the Italian Communist Party, where she shares about her working conditions. This causes the people present to write a panphlet about her boss and piquet the factory, which in turn causes her to be more harassed. At night, however, Lila and Enzo study informatics, believing this will lead to a better life. Lenù writes an article dennouncing the situation of the factory, and, with Pietro's connections, she manages to have it published in the newspaper L'Unità. This brings her a discrete fame, but she soon goes back to Florence for her marriage with Pietro. Lenù had planned not to have children right away, but discovers too late that Pietro did not agree with that plan. She becomes pregnant in her honeymoon, giving birth to her daughter Adele (Dede), named after Pietro's mother. Two years later she has her second daughter, Elsa. At home with two young girls, Lenù has a hard time writing, and feels trapped and allienated. She manages at cost to write another book, based on her and Lila's childhood in Naples, but after Adele, Pietro's mother and her editor, judges the book to have no merit, she abandons the project. Lenù briefly comes back to Naples to find the city much changed. Lila and Enzo's computer lessons paid off, and they managed to find work for IBM as computer programs, constructing a better life. They have now been working with Michele Solara, who the neighborhood continues to fear for his Camorra connections. When Lenù is shocked to learn this, and compares it to a betrayal, Lila tells