: Set in a working-class neighborhood in 1950s Naples, the first book follows the girls from age six through their mid-teens.
: While both are exceptionally bright, their lives diverge early; Lenù is allowed to continue her education into high school and eventually university, while Lila is forced by her family to leave school and work in her father's shoe shop.
La amiga estupenda ( My Brilliant Friend ) is the first installment of Elena Ferrante’s acclaimed Neapolitan Quartet, a sweeping saga that explores the intense, lifelong bond between two women, Elena Greco and Lila Cerullo, in post-World War II Naples.