Few Italian novels have recently been able to cross national borders, without losing their expressive power. The so-called ‘Neapolitan novels’ written by Elena Ferrante — on which the successful TV series produced by Rai and HBO is based — have certainly been capable to do so.

My Brilliant Friend’s tetralogy’s uniqueness lies not only in the powerful personal story of the masterfully psychologically deepened characters, but also in being able to follow them in a period of time ranging from the ’50s to the present day, mixing their personal events with Italy’s recent history.