Donna Leon, not in Italian

       In The Guardian Lizzy Davies explores Who is the real Italian novelist writing as Elena Ferrante ? as the identity-hiding author (of The Days of Abandonment, etc.) has really taken off as of late -- but what I found most interesting in the article was something I hadn't realized: that:

Donna Leon, an American writer based at the other end of Italy from Naples, in Venice, has seen her Commissario Brunetti detective novels published around the world -- but she refuses to let them be published in Italian for fear it will spoil her relative invisibility.

       Surely they'd sell pretty well there, too, so she's a writer who is actually leaving a decent pot of cash on the table; quite remarkable.

       (As to Elena Ferrante's identity: who cares ? As with practically all fiction my advice is: ignore the author, read the books.)