My Brilliant Friend

Elena Ferrante

Sep 2012 · Neapolitan Novels Book 1 · Europa Editions

About this ebook

Now an HBO series: the first volume in the New York Times–bestselling “enduring masterpiece” about a lifelong friendship between two women from Naples (The Atlantic).
 
Beginning in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Elena Ferrante’s four-volume story spans almost sixty years, as its main characters, the fiery and unforgettable Lila and the bookish narrator, Elena, become women, wives, mothers, and leaders, all the while maintaining a complex and at times conflicted friendship. This first novel in the series follows Lila and Elena from their fateful meeting as ten-year-olds through their school years and adolescence.
 
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 two women.
 
“An intoxicatingly furious portrait of enmeshed friends.” —Entertainment Weekly
 
“Spectacular.” —Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air
 
“Captivating.” —The New Yorker

Ratings and reviews

intense. unsentimental. down-to-earth. earthy. always driving forward. wonderful writing; superb translation.

About the author

Elena Ferrante was born in Naples, Italy. Her work includes Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, The Story of the Lost Child, The Story of a New Name, The Lost Daughter, Fragments, and My Brilliant Friend. She is the author of My Brilliant Friend which made The New York Times Bestsellers List and The New Zealand Best Seller List 2015. She was included on Time magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.