My Brilliant Friend

Named the #1 Book of the 21st Century by the New York Times: The “enduring classic” about the lifelong friendship of 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. Basis for the HBO series