My Brilliant Friend
Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein
£10.99
Mr B's review
3 reasons why Elena Ferrante’s series is so good:
- It’s a remarkably honest portrayal of a complex female friendship, complete with all the intimacy and rivalry, fluidity and change that can entail.
- The incredibly atmospheric setting of a neighbourhood racked with poverty, crime and violence in post-war Naples, which becomes the entire intricate universe against which the sagas of the local families play out.
- It’s just a really good story. A rich, urgent, vividly-detailed and hyper-realistic narrative, it takes you on an epic journey into the lives and concerns of these characters.
Description
OVER 5 MILLION COPIES SOLD IN ENGLISH WORLDWIDE
OVER 14 MILLION COPIES OF THE NEAPOLITAN QUARTET SOLD WORLDWIDE
THE NEW YORK TIMES’ #1 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY
THE NEW YORK TIMES’ #8 READERS’ LIST BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY
THE GUARDIAN’S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY
From one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors, comes this ravishing and generous-hearted novel about a friendship that lasts a lifetime. The story of Elena and Lila begins in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant neighbourhood 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 their friendship, beautifully and meticulously rendered, becomes a not always perfect shelter from hardship. Ferrante has created a memorable portrait of two women, but My Brilliant Friend is also the story of a nation. Through the lives of Elena and Lila, Ferrante gives her readers the story of a city and a country undergoing momentous change.
“Nothing quite like it has ever been published.”-Guardian
“Elena Ferrante has established herself as the foremost writer in Italy-and the world.”-The Sunday Times
“This is high stakes, subversive literature.”-The Telegraph
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