Women's Book Discussion

My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante, is the featured selection for discussion in New Palestine. We encourage you to read the book in advance. Ask for a copy at the library desk.

Book jacket description: A modern masterpiece from one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante’s inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship.

The story begins in the 1950s, in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples. Growing up on these tough streets, the two girls learn to rely on each other ahead of anyone or anything else. As they grow and their paths repeatedly diverge and converge, Elena and Lila remain best friends whose respective destinies are reflected and refracted in the other. They are likewise the embodiment of a nation undergoing momentous change. 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 their relationship