March Book Club Pick: My Brilliant Friend
Temperatures are rising, the snow is melting, days are (finally) getting longer, spring is springing! It's been an adventure-filled winter for me over in Oregon, but during a walk around my neighborhood the other day, I detected the most wonderful smell of spring in the air and my excitement could not be contained. I'm mostly excited for the sun to stay up past 4:30 PM, which I'm sure you can all relate to.
Anyway, our March book club pick is here! This month, we're reading the first book in Elena Ferrante's Neopolitan Novels series, My Brilliant Friend. The series follows best friends Elena and Rafaella (Lila) from the beginning of their relationship at the age of ten through adulthood. Their childhoods, spent in a poor and dangerous neighborhood in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, are just the beginning of a lifelong and ever-evolving friendship.
Regarded as a modern classic, My Brilliant Friend has received wide critical acclaim since its publishing in 2011. It has also been adapted for HBO, which is great news for those who would rather watch than read! The series looks fantastic, so I'm hoping to be able to get through it all by the end of the month!
And here's a fun twist: Elena Ferrante, the author, is a pseudonym. The author's true identity is unknown, despite a number of attempts at discovering who she really is.
I hope you'll read along with us this month, and that you're staying healthy!
-Emily