My Brilliant Friend (Neapolitan Quartet, 1) by Elena Ferrante

The opening novel of Ferrante’s acclaimed Neapolitan Quartet, My Brilliant Friend charts two best friends’ journey into adulthood in post-war Italy with great emotional depth and luminous storytelling.  

The story begins in the 1950s, in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples. Growing up on these tough streets the two girls learn to rely on each other ahead of anyone or anything else. As they grow, as their paths repeatedly diverge and converge, Elena and Lila remain best friends whose respective destinies are reflected and refracted in the other.

They are likewise the embodiments of a nation undergoing momentous change. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her protagonists, the unforgettable Elena and Lila.

REVIEWS

'...these delicious novels are some of the best I have ever read. A vivid portrait of female friendship sweeps from childhood in the back streets of impoverished Naples during the 1950s through the Twentieth Century and their love affairs, marriages, motherhood. Passionate, intense, full of suspense and cinematic detail, these astonishing novels will keep you gripped throughout the summer.' - Kate Figes, The Daily Mail

PRODUCT DETAILS
Paperback
Publisher: Europa Editions
ISBN: 978-1787702226
Pages: 331