We get to meet a cast of characters, so interesting, so colourful, and beautifully drawn, it is hard to put the book down. Through Lenù’s eyes the reader experiences her world, accepting that ‘… Life was like that, that’s all … She follows Lia around like a puppy terrified by her friend’s extreme acts. But women also, are known for violence between themselves. Males dominate in homes and the schoolyard. It is a world of hard work and hard knocks, jealousies and intense friendships. There are villains, fights, death, and madness to be found in their poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Naples. They vie for attention, of their families, boys, themselves. Initially it is the academic brilliance of Lia who has no need to strive for achievement, but Lenù must. My Brilliant Friend opens in 1950’s Italy. Lia and Lenù meet in school and remain tied to each other by invisible strings. What one admires in the other, the other seems to lack.
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