Title: My Brilliant Friend (Goodreads)
Author: Elena Ferrante
Translator: Ann Goldstein
Series: The Neapolitan Novels #1
Published: Text, 2013
Pages: 331
Genres: Historical Fiction
My Copy: Paperback
Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)
Elena Ferrante has become a literary
sensation lately, with the four-part Neapolitan series. These books are a
bildungsroman that explores the lives of friends Elena and Lila. My Brilliant Friend
follows their childhoods and teenage years, living in Naples during the
1950s. There are speculations that this series is autobiographical but
Elena Ferrante is so secretive and does not do interviews, so no one can
know for sure.
Naples was the first Italian
city to rise up against the Nazi occupation, in fact when American
troops landed they found that the city was already liberated. After the
war, while Italy was trying to rebuild and recover, a majority of the
focus remained in Rome and this southern city did not much get more
attention. The Italian Social Movement and neo-fascist movements across
Italy caused plenty of political tension.
Having said that, for Elena and Lila,
their entire world consisted of the few blocks they grew up in. Not
knowing the devastation running across Italy, these two friends focused
on their own problems, both having a very tough life with plenty of dark
moments seeping into this novel. Do not expect a normal coming of age
story, these two brilliant friends have to live through devastating
moments and conditions, making this novel not for the faint of heart.
Source;
http://www.knowledgelost.org/book-reviews/genre/historical-fiction/my-brilliant-friend-by-elena-ferrante/
