I feel like I'm still processing the ending of this series, two days after finishing. This book found the characters aging and Lenu still trying to grapple with all the self-doubt she battles with in all areas of her life. And then, tragedy. Tina's disappearance was heartbreaking, as was the aftermath in Lila. When I paused to consider all that Lila had gone through in her life in Naples, I thought: no wonder she's such a jerk most of the time. And the push and pull between her and Lenu could become so brutal; reading these from Lenu's point of view made me wonder how reliable she was as a witness to Lila's feelings. I loved these complex characters that could not be categorized as 'good' or 'bad' but only human. Ferrante has such a talent for seamlessly writing in the passage of time in people and places. The books are a marvel.

There was much left to the reader to hypothesize in the end, and I look forward to meeting with a friend to discuss what happened to Tina, to the Solara brothers, to Lila. Until then, it still feels like the characters in this series are alive somewhere in the back of my mind.

As it ended, I understood that I will one day go back and read these books again. Ferrante was able to conjure a world so true to life: there are things that stick with us over years and decades, things that we can't let go of and help to inform our fates. When I first read A Brilliant Friend there seemed so much that perhaps mattered then to little girls that would not matter again; but Ferrante recalls those moments in ways throughout the next three books. I know when I re-read that first book again it will have so much more depth for having already finished the series.