A review by victoriayates
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

5.0

I am so in awe of how great this book is that I am sure I cannot do it justice. I feel hugely intimidated by the prospect of doing the novel a disservice whilst fighting the compulsion to write about it and talk about it, dissect it, just rave about it. So I’m writing this review... I won’t try to recount the story, it’s too huge and sweeping and grand, complex. Instead, I’ll just say it is a book of contrasting and complimenting themes; it’s about life in Naples but also all life, the nature of being alive. It’s also to a great extent an account of gender, a feminist coming-of-age story which juxtaposes the female-centric narrative of friendship and girls’ education, menstruation and sexuality, with Italian machismo and pride, brutal familial and street violence alongside men’s sexual harassment and assault of young girls. And yet there are moments in this book that shocked me as much in their tenderness as did the rawness of the harm, the audacity of the powerful and the helplessness of the poor. As a working class woman with a passion for learning and education, I felt that Ferrante writes at times as if recounting private discussions we had once had. I saw myself in both Elena and Lila, my own stubborn ambition and determination often countered by a need for affirmations from others, their encouragement needed to assuage my self-doubt. She captures the contrary and fickle nature of romantic love and friendship, platonic affection and sexual desire, the male gaze and female sensuality. I loved this book so much that whilst I’m desperate to read the next I’m going to wait. I need to live a bit longer with the memory of ‘My Brilliant Friend’, linger in the pleasure of her brilliance, bask in the warmth of the Neapolitan heat and drama.