About the Book
Now an HBO series: the first volume in the New York Times bestselling "enduring masterpiece" (The Atlantic) about a lifelong friendship between two women from Naples
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.
About the Author :
Elena Ferrante, author of The Days of Abandonment, Troubling Love, and My Brilliant Friend, among others, is one of Italy's most important and acclaimed contemporary writers. She was named one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2016 by Time.
ELENA FERRANTE is the author of The Days of Abandonment (Europa, 2005), which was made into a film directed by Roberto Faenza, Troubling Love (Europa, 2006), adapted by Mario Martone, and The Lost Daughter (Europa, 2008), soon to be a film directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. She is also the author of Frantumaglia: A Writer's Journey (Europa, 2016) in which she recounts her experience as a novelist, and a children's picture book illustrated by Mara Cerri, The Beach at Night (Europa, 2016). The four volumes known as the "Neapolitan quartet" (My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child) were published in America by Europa between 2012 and 2015. The first season of the HBO series My Brilliant Friend, directed by Saverio Costanzo, premiered in 2018.
ANN GOLDSTEIN has translated into English all of Elena Ferrante's books, including the New York Times bestseller, The Story of the Lost Child, which was shortlisted for the MAN Booker International Prize. She has been honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship and is the recipient of the PEN Renato Poggioli Translation Award. She lives in New York. "Hillary has recorded close to 700 audiobooks spanning many genres. She is a multiple Audie Award finalist, multiple Earphone Award winner, Voice Arts Awards winner and one of Audiofile Magazine's best voices. Hillary has a BA in English Literature and is a voracious reader and listener. Likes: yoga, hip hop dancing, baking sourdough, bourbon. Dislikes: liver. Raised in conservative Connecticut and hippy Hawaii, Hillary now splits her time between Santa Monica and New York. Most of that time is in a 4x4 padded room. Er...booth. Her superpower is reciting the alphabet backwards.
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Review :
"An intoxicatingly furious portrait of enmeshed friends...Ferrante writes with such aggression and unnerving psychological insight about the messy complexity of female friendship ."
-- "Entertainment Weekly"
"Ferrante, beautifully translated by Ann Goldstein...writes with a ferocious, intimate urgency."
-- "San Francisco Chronicle"
"Ferrante's freshness has nothing to do with fashion...it is imbued with the most haunting music of all, the echoes of literary history."
-- "New York Times Book Review"
"Ferrante's unflinching and insightful prose...is captivating and hopeful."
-- "Booklist (starred review)"
"Hillary Huber's subtly shaded performance couldn't be better as she reveals the complexities that separate and connect the two women. When adult Elena learns that her volatile, impulsive childhood companion has disappeared, she decides to write Lila's story and the story of their lives together. Ferrante's dense, rich prose provides the perfect palette for Huber's artistry. She draws clear portraits of each woman and her family, as well as the small town outside of Naples where they live just after WWII. Huber's delivery of this well-plotted, absorbing story of friendship will leave listeners wanting more.
-- "AudioFile"
"It is Lila and her dreams and caprices that drive everything...Lila, mercurial, unsparing, and...seemingly capable of starting a full-scale neighborhood war, is a memorable character."
-- "Publishers Weekly"
"One of the more nuanced portraits of feminine friendship in recent memory."
-- "Vogue"
"This gorgeous novel should bring a host of new readers to one of Italy's most acclaimed authors."
-- "Barnes&Noble.com"
"What is most essential to the story is what is most essential in all our stories: love, loss, sex, marriage, children, friendship, family, dreams, and everything in between."
-- "Literary Hub"
