Books from Italy

My Brilliant Friend follows Elena Greco and Raffaella Cerullo, known as Lila, two intelligent and ambitious girls growing up in a poor neighborhood of Naples in the 1950s. Despite their contrasting personalities, they develop a complex friendship shaped by admiration, rivalry, jealousy, and affection. As they navigate childhood and adolescence, both confront the limitations imposed by poverty, gender expectations, and a society marked by violence and rigid social hierarchies. While Elena continues her education, Lila’s opportunities are increasingly restricted, creating a tension that follows them as their lives take different directions. Through their evolving relationship, Ferrante explores female friendship, ambition, identity, and the transformative power of education. The novel is the first installment of the Neapolitan series, offering an intimate portrait of growing up and discovering oneself in a changing Italy.

The first volume of Antonio Moresco’s ambitious Games of Eternity trilogy, The Beginnings is an experimental, dreamlike novel that follows an unnamed protagonist through three distinct stages of life: seminarian, political revolutionary, and aspiring writer. Moving through the upheavals of twentieth-century Italy, the protagonist struggles to find his place in a world shaped by religious institutions, ideological movements, and the elusive possibilities of literature. Rather than following a conventional narrative, Moresco creates a shifting, surreal world in which events unfold with strange immediacy and familiar realities become unsettling. The novel challenges traditional storytelling, offering an unusual exploration of transformation, rebellion, and the search for artistic identity. Both philosophical and unpredictable, it marks the beginning of a literary journey that pushes the boundaries of contemporary Italian fiction.