A modern masterpiece from one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena (Lenu) and Lila.
The story takes us into a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Naples in the 1950s, into the violence of abuse, power and poverty. The girls rely on each other as a shelter from these hardships and their friendship goes on to bear many secrets and scars and a deep understanding.
Elena and Lila have very different personalities; at school Elena is diligent and is encouraged by her teacher to study hard and escape her life of impoverishment. Lila is much more rebellious and with no support from family, teaches herself to read and write and gains the highest grades in class, seemingly without effort. Elena’s parents agree to pay for her to continue with her education whilst Lila’s parents refuse, and their paths diverge but they are always connected.
Surviving in such a violent neighbourhood is not easy; Elena keeps her head down and studies hard; Lila, on the other hand, is much feistier and is happy to goad and take on the local mafia families.
My Brilliant Friend is a multi-layered story with many other characters in the neighbourhood playing important and pivotal parts in the girls’ lives. It is the first of four books – The Neapolitan Novels – and after reading this one I went on to devour the next three. They are beautifully written and through the girls lives you also see the story of a neighbourhood, a city and a country transforming through the years.
My Brilliant Friend is a five-star read, not just for the story and characters but also because of the thought-provoking nature of the text.
Kerry
Buy it here: My Brilliant Friend a book by Elena Ferrante and Ann Goldstein. (bookshop.org)