<b>Named the #1 Book of the 21st Century by the <i>New York Times</i>: The "enduring classic" about the lifelong friendship of two women from Naples ( <i>The Atlantic</i>).</b> <br> <br> Beginning in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Elena Ferrante's four-volume story spans almost sixty years, as its main characters, the fiery and unforgettable Lila and the bookish narrator, Elena, become women, wives, mothers, and leaders, all the while maintaining a complex and at times conflicted friendship. This first novel in the series follows Lila and Elena from their fateful meeting as ten-year-olds through their school years and adolescence. <br> <br> Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between two women. <br> "An intoxicatingly furious portrait of enmeshed friends." — <i>Entertainment Weekly</i> <br> <br> "Spectacular." —Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air <br> <br> "Captivating." — <i>The New Yorker</i> <br> <b>Basis for the HBO series</b>