My Brilliant Friend is the beginning of a 60 year journey of two lives, entwined by friendship and rivalry. It's set roughly 5 years after the end of WW2 in Naples, Italy, in a neighborhood that is beset by poverty, talks of Communism, Fascism, and Nazism. The main character, Elena, mostly called Lenú, goes through her coming-of-age with her friend that she calls Lila. She is besot with ideas of superiority and inferiority, the dichotomies between herself and the intelligent Lila, despite also being very clever herself, and begins her journey to try and escape the vicious cycle of "plebian life".

Elena Ferrante's prose, even translated from Italian, is gorgeous. It reads very much like a memoir, written by someone who is older, attempting to put old memories to paper with appropriate amounts of insight and judgement on events that would come with years of reflection/learning. She continuously pulls you in with the waves of despair, joy, selfishness, envy, pride that Lenú experiences.

I am very much looking forward to reading the next installment!