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My Brilliant Friend

Elena Ferrante

In a 1950s Neapolitan neighborhood haunted by the ghosts of a violent past, childhood best friends Elena and Lila navigate a terrain defined by the decisions of their parents’ generation. Between them, a tacit loyalty grows, and this love overshadows a latent disquietude about the neighborhood in which they live.

Yet, with the onset of adolescence, Elena and Lila’s devotion to one another comes into question. As they both begin to understand themselves and each other in new ways, jealousies erupt and silent animosities create fissures in a formerly unyielding bond. What ensues is an affecting tale of growing up, of the ways in which a more complex understanding of our internal and external worlds – of our communities, families, and ourselves – can make friendship both a balm and a poison.

 

You may purchase this book directly from Europa Editions.

About the Author

Elena Ferrante

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Elena Ferrante is an Italian novelist whose books are published in the U.S. by Europa Editions. Her most recent novel is the acclaimed The Story of A New Name.

"When you haven’t been in the world long, it’s hard to comprehend what disasters are at the origin of a sense of disaster: maybe you don’t even feel the need to. Adults, waiting for tomorrow, move in a present behind which is yesterday or the day before yesterday or at most last week: they don’t want to think about the rest. Children don’t know the meaning of yesterday, of the day before yesterday, or even of tomorrow, everything is this, now: the street is this, the doorway is this, the stairs are this, this is Mamma, this Papa, this is day, this is night."

-Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend