My Brilliant Friend

“She was like that: she took away any certainty you had about yourself.”

Lila and Lenù are always competing. Even their deepest love feels like a race for survival. One friend's success feels like the other one's failure.

“Wealth was the shimmer of the gold coins in the cellar.”

School is the only escape from the neighborhood. When Lila is forced to quit, the distance between the girls feels like a physical wall. Education changes how they speak and think.

“I felt no love for the neighborhood.”

Violence is everywhere in Naples. It passes from fathers to sons and neighbors to neighbors. Everyone is just waiting for the next outburst.

“My life forces me to imagine what yours would have been like if you had been able to study.”

Lila is the brilliant one. She has a spark that scares everyone around her. She uses her mind to fight a world that wants her small.