I really liked My Brilliant Friend, but I loved this; I've started to see why Ferrante's Neopolitan Quartet is being called a modern masterpiece. Although it's set in Naples in the 1960s, I think most people will find much to relate to here. It's honest about the messy reality of long-term friendships: how the power balance shifts, how long periods of distance are followed by periods of closeness. It's refreshingly frank about our relationships with families and explores how we are shaped by and rebel against the environment we grew up in. I can't wait to read the next two books.
