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 one of the most successful voice talents in Los Angeles. Recent books read for Blackstone Audio include Him, Her, Him Again, the End of Him by Patricia Marx, A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read, and A Map of Glass by Jane Urquhart.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kinga

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

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

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

Goodreads review by Nayra.Hassan

هذه روايةلا يمكن رفضها..لم يكتبها رجل او إمرأةبل كتبها قرين/ شيطان ليظهر خفايا مظلمة في نفس الانثى هذا ليس سردا او بوحا عاديا..بل نافذة على ضمير انثي منذ طفولتها لشيخوختها ؛عن كل ما ينهشنا من الداخل.. :تحكي لنا ايلينا غريكو بصراحة لا ..لا "بشراسة"عن ليلا شيرلو كثيرا ما خنقتني انا نيرة ثلاثة أسئلة و ا......more

Goodreads review by Glenn

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

“Hillary Huber’s subtly shaded performance couldn’t be better as she reveals the complexities that separate and connect the two women. When adult Elena learns that her volatile, impulsive childhood companion has disappeared, she decides to write Lila’s story and the story of their lives together. Ferrante’s dense, rich prose provides the perfect palette for Huber’s artistry. She draws clear portraits of each woman and her family, as well as the small town outside of Naples where they live just after WWII. Huber’s delivery of this well-plotted, absorbing story of friendship will leave listeners wanting more.

AudioFile

Awards

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