My amazing friend

Author's name: Elena Ferrante Publisher: Dar Al-Adab Summary of the novel: This is the first work of a tetralogy. Ferrante, in this tetralogy, traces the stages of the lives of two intelligent girls - Elena Greco, the kind, conscious girl, book lover, and her friend Lila, the fiery and reckless girl - from childhood until they reach adulthood, as they try to find lives for themselves amidst the violent and demeaning culture prevailing in the neighborhood where they live on the outskirts of Naples in Italy. The intertwined lives of the two girls present an indelible, vivid picture of Naples, and an essential understanding of women's daily lives and their persistent efforts to circumvent men's claims, domestic work, and their artistic aspirations. The book, through a detailed exploration of the friendship that unites them, vividly depicts how they struggled to escape the neighborhood where they grew up, which was a prison of blind obedience, violence, and inviolable taboos.