My Brilliant Friend (Italian: L'amica geniale) is a 2011 novel by Italian author Elena Ferrante. It is the first of four volumes in Ferrante's critically acclaimed Neapolitan Novels series.[1] The novel, translated into English by Ann Goldstein in 2012, explores themes of female friendship, social class, and personal identity against the backdrop of post-war Naples.[2]
Plot
Set primarily in a working-class neighborhood of Naples during the 1950s, My Brilliant Friend chronicles the complex friendship between Elena Greco (called Lenù) and Raffaella Cerullo (known as Lila). The novel opens in 2010 with Elena, now in her sixties, learning of Lila's disappearance. This prompts Elena to begin writing their shared history from childhood.[3]
The narrative follows Elena and Lila from age six to sixteen, detailing their intellectual rivalry, navigating the neighborhood's complex social dynamics, and diverging paths as they approach adulthood. Elena continues her education beyond elementary school, while Lila, despite her exceptional intelligence, is forced to abandon formal schooling to work in her family's shoe repair shop.[4]
As they grow older, both girls grapple with the limitations imposed by their social class and gender. Lila attempts to persuade her father and brother to produce shoes she had designed. With the support of her teachers and family, Elena continues on to high school, and is even sponsored for a summer vacation to Ischia. While there, she reconnects with her childhood crush, Nino Sarratore.
Lila's beauty and fierce intelligence attract numerous suitors, including Marcello Solara, the son of a powerful local Camorra family. To escape an unwanted marriage to Marcello, Lila agrees to marry Stefano Carracci, the son of a local grocer, at sixteen. The novel culminates in Lila's wedding, where a revelation about Stefano's true nature shatters Lila's hopes for a better life.[3]
Themes
Female friendship
The central theme of My Brilliant Friend is the complex, often fraught friendship between Elena and Lila. Their relationship is characterized by deep affection, intense rivalry, and mutual dependence. Literary critic James Wood describes their bond as "a rich and complicated tangle of envy, admiration, disappointment, abandonment."[4] The novel explores how their friendship shapes their identities and influences their life choices.
Class and social mobility
Ferrante vividly portrays the socioeconomic realities of post-war Naples, highlighting the limited opportunities available to those born into working-class families. The novel contrasts Elena's academic pursuits with Lila's forced entry into the workforce, illustrating the social mobility challenges in 1950s Italy.[2] The characters' aspirations and struggles are deeply intertwined with their social class, reflecting broader societal inequalities.
Education and intellectual growth
Education plays a crucial role in the novel, serving as a means of personal development and a potential escape from poverty. Elena's continued schooling and Lila's self-taught brilliance highlight different paths to intellectual growth. The novel explores how access to education (or lack thereof) shapes the girls' futures and sense of self-worth.[3]
Gender roles and expectations
Ferrante examines the restrictive gender norms of 1950s Italian society through the experiences of Elena, Lila, and other female characters. The novel depicts the limited options available to women, particularly those from working-class backgrounds, and the societal pressures to conform to the traditional roles of wife and mother.[4]
Style and narration
Ferrante employs a first-person narrative from Elena's perspective, blending present-day reflections with vivid recollections of the past. The novel's prose is characterized by its directness and emotional intensity, with critic James Wood praising Ferrante's ability to capture "the furious intensity of adolescence."[4]
The author's decision to keep her true identity secret has sparked much discussion in literary circles, with some critics arguing that this anonymity allows readers to focus solely on the text.[1] This authorial mystery has contributed to the novel's intrigue and critical reception.
Reception
My Brilliant Friend received widespread acclaim upon its release, with critics praising Ferrante's vivid portrayal of female friendship and post-war Italian society. The novel's success increased international recognition for Ferrante and sparked a global literary phenomenon known as "Ferrante Fever."[5]
In a review for The New York Times, Rachel Donadio described the novel as "a large, captivating, amiably peopled bildungsroman," praising Ferrante's ability to create a "powerful, unsentimental portrait of a friendship."[1] James Wood, writing for The New Yorker, lauded the novel's "tactile immediacy" and its exploration of "the mysterious workings of an intense female friendship."[4]
The novel's critical success has been matched by its popular appeal. In 2019, The Guardian ranked My Brilliant Friend as the 11th best book of the 21st century.[6] In a 2024 survey conducted by The New York Times Book Review, the novel was named the best book of the 21st century, solidifying its place in contemporary literature.[7]
Adaptations
The novel's success led to a television adaptation, produced as a joint venture between HBO, RAI, and TIMvision. The series, titled My Brilliant Friend, premiered in 2018 to critical acclaim.[8] Directed by Saverio Costanzo, the first season closely follows the events of the novel, with Elisa Del Genio and Margherita Mazzucco portraying young and teenage Elena, respectively, and Ludovica Nasti and Gaia Girace playing young and teenage Lila.[9]
The adaptation has been praised for its faithful representation of the novel's themes and setting, with particular acclaim for the performances of its young cast and its meticulous recreation of 1950s Naples.[10]
Legacy
My Brilliant Friend has significantly impacted contemporary literature, reinvigorating interest in Italian fiction and sparking discussions about female authorship and identity.[11] The novel's exploration of female friendship and social class has resonated with readers worldwide, contributing to a renewed focus on these themes in contemporary fiction.[12]
Ferrante's decision to remain anonymous has also sparked discussions about authorship and celebrity in the literary world, challenging traditional notions of the author's role in promoting and interpreting their work.[13]
The success of My Brilliant Friend and the subsequent novels in the Neapolitan series has established Ferrante as one of the most significant literary voices of the 21st century, with her work continuing to inspire both readers and writers worldwide.[14]
^Segnini, Elisa (2017). "Local Flavor vs Global Audiences: Elena Ferrante and Translatability". The Italianist. 37 (1): 100–118. doi:10.1080/02614340.2016.1273649.
^Bullaro, Grace Russo; Love, Stephanie V. (2016). "Introduction: Beyond the Margins: "Ferrante Fever" and Italian Female Writing". The Works of Elena Ferrante: Reconfiguring the Margins. Palgrave Macmillan: 1–12. ISBN978-1-137-57580-7.
Bullaro, Grace Russo; Love, Stephanie V. (2016). The Works of Elena Ferrante: Reconfiguring the Margins. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN978-1-137-57580-7.
Bojar, Karen (2018). In Search of Elena Ferrante: The Novels and the Question of Authorship. McFarland. ISBN978-1-476-67468-1.
Santovetti, Olivia (2018). "Melodrama or Metafiction? Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels". The Modern Language Review. 113 (3): 527–545. JSTOR10.5699/modelangrevi.113.3.0527.
