My Brilliant Friend

 by Elena Ferrante

This is the story of a young girl growing up in post war Italy near Naples.  As the book opens she gets a call from the son of her best friend who tells her his mother has disappeared.  All her clothing etc. are gone.  The woman isn't surprised by this development and tells him not to contact her again as she has no idea where his mother has gone.

The book is the first of a series of books which I assume will ultimately explain where the woman's friend, Lina, has gone.

The book follows the life of the girls as they become best friends.  Lina is a very intelligent but also very spunky, even aggressive girl who doesn't take guff from anyone.  The main character is enthralled with her best friend.  She relies on her friendship, thinks about her all the time, even when Lina is cruel to her.  There is a lot of conflict and violence within families and between young men trying to assert their manhood,  One man drove a widow crazy when he wooed her, when his wife forces them to leave the neighbourhood, the woan really loses it.

The book does and excellent job of portraying life, tragedies, scandals and gossip in the small town.  It shows the girls as they get interested in boys and vice versa.  Lina always seems to have to the need to show she is smartest, even when she is forced to leave school to work in her family shoe repair shop.

When she learns that the main character is taking Latin  , Lin a borrows books from the local library learns latin on her own.

Lina and her brother plan to develop a company making shoes, but don't tell their father.  Everyone, adults and especially young men seem enthralled with Lina.  One wealthy young man asks to marry her.  She says no but her parents welcome his attention.  They also accept his investment in their shoe company.  Lina finally accepts a proposal from a boy whose family own a grocery store.

While all this is happening the main character continues to go to school, but she starts to wonder what it will get her.  She is also hurt that her friend keeps getting all the attention, she feels ugly by comparison.

The book ends up being a little like a soap opera but it did a great job of portraying life in Italy, the coming of age of the girls, the family dynamics, the gap between the wealthy and the poor, the neighbourhood conflicts.

The book ends with Lina's wedding.  She is shocked to see her first suitor come to her reception wearing the first pair of shoes she and her brother made.  Did her husband sell them to this man?  We imagine Lina won't react well to this.

The story is now on Netflix.  I think I may continue to watch the series on Netflix rather than read three more books.