“My Brilliant Friend” by Elena Ferrante is a masterpiece that will remain on bookshelves for centuries to come. Her breathtaking prose and unfairly true characters will make you cry and laugh simultaneously. Ferrante sets her scene beautifully, painting a crystal clear picture of an impoverished Italian neighborhood overflowing with three-dimensional people. 

In her lovely tale, Ferrante follows a girl named Elena and Lila, her best friend, growing up in Naples. She explores relationships and the differences between what one wants and another is required to do by creating a parallel between Elena and Lila. She writes their adolescence and entrance to adulthood with a knowing pen and makes you feel as if you are growing up along with them. 

Ferrante is a writer with uncanny insight into fleeting yet concrete emotions. She will leave you feeling as if someone has peeked into your soul and written down the contents. Read “My Brilliant Friend” with the knowledge that it will not leave you for months after you have flipped the last page.