My Brilliant Friend: The International No. 1 Bestseller

I came across this from Richard E. Grant's Write Around The World television series when he visited Naples. His enthusiasm made me buy a copy but, while I enjoyed it, I wouldn't want to continue and read the rest of the series of books. I'm always a bit wary of translated novels but this was well translated (despite the Americanisms) yet I wearied a little of the demonstrative, violent life depicted. It started so well with the two girls daring each other up the stairs to Don Achilles' flat believing him to have supernatural characteristics including shape changing but life in the impoverished neighbourhood turns out to be far more prosaic and too much so. Well written but not sufficiently so to make me want to read on.

Not sure I would have picked this book as the cover made me wary but it was highly recommended for a book club read and by my daughter who has read all four books of the quartet.

I didn’t find it easy to get into at the start and I would suggest anyone who struggles tries to stick with it as it definitely improves. The first thing to note is the number of characters, hence front pages devoted to telling the reader who they are! It certainly helped!

Lenu and Lila, two little girls growing up in a poor neighbourhood of Naples post Second World War. The violence of the district and family life is the first thing that struck me about the book and how difficult it was to break out of the neighbourhood unless through education. Lenu and Lila, both highly intelligent girls, have a close but competitive friendship where one is allowed to continue her education and one is not.

This is the first novel of a quartet and has an HBO series on Sky Atlantic which is very closely aligned to the book and I thoroughly recommend watching if you can. Some member said of Gloucester Book Club scored it 10 and some scored it 2 so you can see how much our scores reflects the love/hate relationship this novel provoked in a few. Most of our group scored in the middle range. It may not suit everyone but it’s beautifully written in parts and well worth considering.

What an excellent story, compels you to find out what happens to the characters. So much so I have read all four books in The Neopolitan Series. Wonderful and so so well translated.

This isn't the type of book I generally read, but I greatly enjoyed reading it! The character of Elena is so likable, and then of course Lila is amazingly mysterious!