Journalist says he was right to unmask popular Italian writer Elena Ferrante

Elena Ferrante's novels are extremely sought-after. So is her identity.

The best-selling author has kept her real name a secret since the beginning. And, for years, there has been speculation about who she is.

Readers were told crumbs of information about her personal life that she was willing to share. Except that they were all false.- Claudio Gatti, investigative reporter

Now an Italian investigative journalist has published an article unmasking Elena Ferrante. He says his research shows she is a former translator named Anita Raja.

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The revelation has prompted anger from many of Ferrante's fans and supporters. Her publisher called Gatti's piece "disgusting."

But Gatti is standing by his decision to identify the writer. He explains to As It Happens host Carol Off why he believes the author is trying to "have her cake and eat it too." Here is an edited version of their conversation:

Carol Off: Mr. Gatti, why did you feel you need to reveal the identity of Elena Ferrante?

Claudio Gatti: Well, first of all, I was a reader and fan of Elena Ferrante . . . And as an investigative journalist in New York City, everywhere I went I would get one question about Italy . . . Who is Elena Ferrante? Do you know?

CO: But she has said many times she didn't want to be more important than her books. She said to The New York Times, "I can say with a certain pride that, in my country, the titles of my novels are better known than my name and I think that is a good outcome." So why couldn't you respect that?

CG: Don't you see the contradiction? She didn't reject the media circus. In fact, she and her publishers fuelled the frenzy about the writer's personal life by giving interviews and responding to questions about that and, most importantly, even publishing a book that they presented as autobiographical. So who violated Elena Ferrante's privacy? Elena Ferrante did.

CO: Do you think it was an elaborate marketing strategy then?

I'm not the one who lied about it and used the media circus. She was not [J.D.] Salinger.- Claudio Gatti

CG: She published a book where she said that she would give some information about her personal life, such as she was the daughter of a Neapolitan seamstress, she had three sisters, she lived in Naples until she moved out as an adult. Well, readers were told that those were crumbs of information about her personal life that she was willing to share. Except that they were all false. You cannot have your cake and eat it too.

CO: So you think that the reason why you are justified in revealing it is she published an autobiography that had things in it that weren't true?

CG: In an open letter, the publisher said that readers deserved a more general response, beyond newspaper interviews, out of a healthy desire on the part of your readers to know you better. Explain to me how this fits with the request now of maintaining privacy. She's the one who said, "I'm going to give you information because you, readers, deserve it." Except she gave false information.

CO: Anita Raja, now that she has been revealed, do you think that she'll be the target of paparazzi? Do you think she'll be pursued now, even more perhaps than if she was known from the very beginning?

CG: I don't see Princess Diana here . . . She will join the rest of the top world writers. She had a privilege. It worked for 24 years. It's not working. But I don't think that life for top world writers is terrible . . . But I'm not the one who lied about it and used the media circus. She was not Salinger.

For more on this story, listen to our full interview with Claudio Gatti.