My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante
My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante
112 Rating(s)
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

My Brilliant Friend

Author: Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein

Narrator: Hillary Huber

Unabridged: 12 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/07/2015

Synopsis

Now an HBO series: the first volume in the New York Times bestselling “enduring masterpiece” (The Atlantic) about a lifelong friendship between two women from NaplesBeginning in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Elena Ferrante’s four-volume story spans almost sixty years, as its main characters, the fiery and unforgettable Lila and the bookish narrator, Elena, become women, wives, mothers, and leaders, all the while maintaining a complex and at times conflicted friendship.This first novel in the series follows Lila and Elena from their fateful meeting as ten-year-olds through their school years and adolescence. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between two women.

About Elena Ferrante

Elena Ferrante, author of The Days of Abandonment, Troubling Love, and My Brilliant Friend, among others, is one of Italy’s most important and acclaimed contemporary writers. She was named one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2016 by Time.

About Hillary Huber

Hillary Huber is a multiple Audie Award finalist, an Earphones Award winner, and an AudioFile Best Voice. She has recorded over six hundred titles spanning many genres and holds a bachelor's degree in English literature. A voracious reader and listener, she was raised in Connecticut and Hawaii but now splits her time between California and New York.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kinga on February 11, 2015

I received this book as a Christmas present from my boss over a year ago. In fact, everyone in the office received a copy – that’s how much our boss wanted us to read it. Before you start wondering what sort of wonderful place I worked at, let me clarify it was a literary agency, so such things were......more

Goodreads review by Rick on December 28, 2015

I have been studying Italian in my free time and so decided to try reading one of the most popular Italian writers of today: Elena Ferrante. There have been many articles about this author's mysterious anonymity. Her real identity is unknown except to her publisher because she wishes to have a norma......more

Goodreads review by Maggie on November 05, 2021

Anne of Green Gables if it was set in a rough Italian neighborhood and written by Donna Tartt.......more

Goodreads review by emma on April 03, 2024

The thing about this book is that the more that happened, the less I liked it. At the beginning of this book, there was no plot. Just vibes. Just two kids existing in Italy and being good at school. Sometimes they go into the sewer, where they are convinced a Pennywise-esque interpretation of their s......more

Goodreads review by Glenn on November 18, 2018

UPDATED November 2018: here’s my review of the new HBO miniseries. Hint: It’s just as good as the book! [URL not allowed] ***** My Brilliant Friend, a.k.a. My Brilliant New Obsession Believe all the hype. This is a rich, immersive, deeply satisfying book that, like many great nov......more

Quotes

“One of the more nuanced portraits of feminine friendship in recent memory.” Vogue

“An intoxicatingly furious portrait of enmeshed friends…Ferrante writes with such aggression and unnerving psychological insight about the messy complexity of female friendship .” Entertainment Weekly

“Ferrante’s freshness has nothing to do with fashion…it is imbued with the most haunting music of all, the echoes of literary history.” New York Times Book Review

“Ferrante, beautifully translated by Ann Goldstein…writes with a ferocious, intimate urgency.” San Francisco Chronicle

“Hillary Huber’s subtly shaded performance couldn’t be better as she reveals the complexities that separate and connect the two women…Ferrante’s dense, rich prose provides the perfect palette for Huber’s artistry. Huber’s delivery of this well-plotted, absorbing story of friendship will leave listeners wanting more.” AudioFile

“This gorgeous novel should bring a host of new readers to one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors.” Barnes&Noble.com

“Ferrante’s unflinching and insightful prose…is captivating and hopeful.” Booklist (starred review)

“It is Lila and her dreams and caprices that drive everything…Lila, mercurial, unsparing, and…seemingly capable of starting a full-scale neighborhood war, is a memorable character.” Publishers Weekly

“What is most essential to the story is what is most essential in all our stories: love, loss, sex, marriage, children, friendship, family, dreams, and everything in between.” Literary Hub

Awards

  • New York Times bestseller
  • BuzzFeed Books Pick
  • BookPage Top Pick
  • New York Times Pick
  • Bustle Pick
  • Electric Literature
  • Literary Hub Pick
  • Amazon Editor’s Top Pick
  • Harper’s Bazaar Pick
  • Guardian Pick
  • Time Magazine Top 10 Book
  • Town & Country Magazine Pick
  • New York Public Library Staff Pick
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