BVBook Verdict
Essential Read

My Brilliant Friend

by Elena Ferrante · 2011

Literary Fiction · ranked #94 in category

In 1950s Naples, two girls — Elena Greco and Lila Cerullo — form the friendship that will shape both their lives. Lila is brilliant and fierce and will not escape the neighbourhood; Elena, quieter and more pliant, will. The first of Ferrante's four Neapolitan novels is about female friendship, class, ambition and the specific violence of poverty in post-war Italy.

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The verdict

Category
Literary Fiction
First published
2011 · 2010s
Author
Elena Ferrante
Standing
Essential Read

About Literary Fiction

Literary fiction sits at the intersection of fine writing and serious storytelling — novels that reward attention and stay with you long after the last page. These are the books that alter your sense of what's possible in prose.

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