A friend of mine had told me, on more than one occasion, that I absolutely must read The Neapolitan Quartet by Elena Ferrante. They were her very favourite books of all time. When I pressed her to describe why she adored them so much, however, she faltered. She said it was hard to express her reasons, and went on to describe a narrative that followed two friends from girlhood through to their sixties, set in Naples, Italy, beginning in the 1950s. She went on to say that it had a rich cast of characters and some shady mob overtones. I promised to give it a go, but wasn't in any rush. I valued her opinion, and felt sure I would enjoy it, but it sounded just like any number of coming-of-age stories I already knew.
While scanning for something to watch on telly one night, I saw an ad for an Italian drama based upon the very same books. Clearly, my friend was not the only one enthralled by Ferrante's novels! The trailer grabbed my attention. The child actors they had cast as the two main characters were mesmerising. Their mere expressions spoke volumes - such seriousness in their eyes. I went to Waterstone's the very next day to purchase all four volumes in the set. It was reminiscent of the time I had devoured the tv series Anne of Green Gables, starring Megan Follows, at nine years old, and then spent the entirety of my birthday money buying the eight volume set from Waldenbooks.
From the very first chapter of the first book, My Brilliant Friend, I was completely riveted. I usually finish two or three books each month, but within three weeks I had devoured the entire series - over 1,600 pages in less than a month. It was as if I had been set alight - absolutely buzzing from the emotional journey I had made throughout those novels. It was like falling in love with reading all over again, and yet, I too have struggled to define exactly why. What is it that makes these novels so unique, when on the surface they sound almost banal?
Ferrante's Italian has been translated into English by Ann Goldstein, and I believe that Goldstein's supreme talents deserve some of the praise. Without a doubt, she has conveyed Ferrante's words with poetic grace. A different translation may not have yielded the same effect, so we must acknowledge Goldstein's part in the overall success of the series. It is also clear that Ferrante has drawn heavily from real life experience (the story's narrator is even called Elena), and that gritty honesty is an integral part of the formula as well. The friendship that Elena and Lila share is messy and complex. They are competitors - sometimes consumed by jealousies and rage. They wound one another with lies, avoidance, betrayals, and yet they embody each other's core truths. Like siblings, they validate one another's origins, knowing that they have only become who they are because of the bonds they forged as children - longing to become a person of authority, capable of shaping their own futures. The characters are very real to me. It is as if I have walked with them along the stradone, ordered coffee at Bar Solara, and contemplated the gorgeous, yet slightly threatening, backdrop of Mount Vesuvius.
I am in awe of Ferrante. With the Neapolitan Quartet she has managed to write something incredibly exceptional and enduring, but attempts to explain or summarise can only fail to do it justice...
You simply have to read it for yourself.