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Elena FerranteA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Between October 1976 and 1979 when Elena returns to Naples, she avoids being close to Lila. This is because she is still hurting from the contempt that Lila showed when Elena informed her she was leaving her husband for Nino Sarratore. Although Lila has never shown the slightest interest in Elena’s daughters Dede and Elsa, she now tells Elena that she will be harming them by her actions.
Lila becomes “a voice invented by ill feeling” for Elena, who admits that as the years pass, she is losing track of who Lila has become (24). Still, she finds that she can only reach Lila by “passing through myself” (24). As Elena the writer recounts the most painful part of their story, she seeks to find a balance on the page between herself and her friend.
Elena leaves her husband Pietro and their two daughters Dede and Elsa to go with Nino to Montpellier, France for an academic conference. There, she watches Nino turn into a suave academic, even though he is insecure about his paper, which Elena praises despite its mediocrity. Elena meets a French couple who have also separated from their families.
By Elena Ferrante
My Brilliant Friend
My Brilliant Friend
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The Days of Abandonment
The Days of Abandonment
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The Lost Daughter
The Lost Daughter
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The Lying Life of Adults
The Lying Life of Adults
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The Story of a New Name
The Story of a New Name
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Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay
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