“Love is a Burden” is subtle and psychologically measured prose, a novel that is both dark and inspiring. The main character, an illustrator, does not exactly have a cloudless life. She is lonely and not too happy with herself. Trying to find the reasons for her own troubles after the sudden death of her mother, the heroine turns to the memories of her childhood: after all, as psychologists teach, it is childhood moral traumas that determine our entire adult life. But are they the only ones? And can a mother influence her daughter’s psyche so much that she strives to literally transform into her? No, it’s not always worth solving riddles given by the past... The author of the book, Elena Ferrante, is a mysterious person who prefers to remain in the shadow of her books. It is not even known whether she uses a pseudonym or writes under her own name. Her novels have been translated into 40 languages, and in 2016 she was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world.