My Brilliant Friend
The Neapolitan Novels, Book 1
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My Brilliant Friend
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Narrated by:
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Hillary Huber
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Written by:
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Elena Ferrante
About this listen
Now an HBO series: the first volume in the New York Times bestselling “enduring masterpiece” (The Atlantic) about a lifelong friendship between two women from Naples
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. 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.
©2012 GO Team! Enterprises (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.You may also enjoy...
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 21
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 21
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Story4 out of 5 stars 21
Leda, a middle-aged divorcee, is alone for the first time in years when her daughters leave home to live with their father. Her initial, unexpected sense of liberty turns to ferocious introspection following a seemingly trivial occurrence. Throughout the novel, Ferrante's language is as finely tuned and intense as ever, and she treats her theme with a fierce, candid tenacity.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent story!!
- By Sarah on 2023-01-10
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Giovanni's Room
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1
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Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
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Story0 out of 5 stars 0
James Baldwin's groundbreaking novel with a new introduction, Giovanni's Room is set in the Paris of the 1950s, where a young American expatriate finds himself caught between his repressed desires and conventional morality. David has just proposed marriage to his American girlfriend, but while she is away on a trip he becomes involved in a doomed affair with a bartender named Giovanni.
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The Lying Life of Adults
- Written by: Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein - translator
- Narrated by: Marisa Tomei
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 81
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
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Story4 out of 5 stars 70
Giovanna’s pretty face is changing, turning ugly, at least so her father thinks. Giovanna, he says, is looking more like her Aunt Vittoria every day. But can it be true? Is she really changing? Will she turn out like her despised Aunt Vittoria, a woman she hardly knows but whom her mother and father have spent their whole lives avoiding and deriding? There must be a mirror somewhere in which she can see herself as she truly is.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Unflinching Coming of Age Story
- By Karen W. Lam on 2020-12-03
Written by: Elena Ferrante, and others
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The Days of Abandonment
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- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 17
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 14
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Story4 out of 5 stars 15
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Written by: Elena Ferrante
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
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Story4 out of 5 stars 7
When Abraham Verghese, a physician whose marriage is unraveling, relocates to El Paso, Texas, he hopes to make a fresh start as a staff member at the county hospital. There he meets David Smith, a medical student recovering from drug addiction, and the two men begin a tennis ritual that allows them to shed their inhibitions and find security in the sport they love and with each other. This friendship between doctor and intern grows increasingly rich and complex, more intimate than two men usually allow.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Superbly written and hauntingly real.
- By Anonymous User on 2024-08-09
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- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 94
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
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Story4 out of 5 stars 79
Ann Patchett’s award winning, New York Times best-selling Bel Canto balances themes of love and crisis as disparate characters learn that music is their only common language. As in Pratchett’s other novels, including Truth & Beauty and The Magician’s Assistant, the author’s lyrical prose and lucid imagination make Bel Canto a captivating story of strength and frailty, love and imprisonment, and an inspiring tale of transcendent romance.
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5 out of 5 stars
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My favourite novel
- By Beeswax on 2020-11-11
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The Lost Daughter
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- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 21
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 21
Leda, a middle-aged divorcee, is alone for the first time in years when her daughters leave home to live with their father. Her initial, unexpected sense of liberty turns to ferocious introspection following a seemingly trivial occurrence. Throughout the novel, Ferrante's language is as finely tuned and intense as ever, and she treats her theme with a fierce, candid tenacity.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent story!!
- By Sarah on 2023-01-10
Written by: Elena Ferrante
-
Giovanni's Room
- A Novel (Vintage International)
- Written by: James Baldwin, Kevin Young - introduction
- Narrated by: Matt Bomer, Kevin Young
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
James Baldwin's groundbreaking novel with a new introduction, Giovanni's Room is set in the Paris of the 1950s, where a young American expatriate finds himself caught between his repressed desires and conventional morality. David has just proposed marriage to his American girlfriend, but while she is away on a trip he becomes involved in a doomed affair with a bartender named Giovanni.
Written by: James Baldwin, and others
-
The Lying Life of Adults
- Written by: Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein - translator
- Narrated by: Marisa Tomei
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 81
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 70
Giovanna’s pretty face is changing, turning ugly, at least so her father thinks. Giovanna, he says, is looking more like her Aunt Vittoria every day. But can it be true? Is she really changing? Will she turn out like her despised Aunt Vittoria, a woman she hardly knows but whom her mother and father have spent their whole lives avoiding and deriding? There must be a mirror somewhere in which she can see herself as she truly is.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Unflinching Coming of Age Story
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Written by: Elena Ferrante, and others
-
The Days of Abandonment
- Written by: Elena Ferrante
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 17
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 15
An IndiBound best seller, The Days of Abandonment shocked and captivated its Italian public when first published. It is the gripping story of a woman's descent into devastating emptiness after being abandoned by her husband, with two young children to care for. When she finds herself literally trapped within the four walls of their high-rise apartment, she is forced to confront her ghosts, the potential loss of her own identity, and the possibility that life may never return to normal.
Written by: Elena Ferrante
-
The Tennis Partner
- A Doctor's Story of Friendship and Loss
- Written by: Abraham Verghese
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 7
When Abraham Verghese, a physician whose marriage is unraveling, relocates to El Paso, Texas, he hopes to make a fresh start as a staff member at the county hospital. There he meets David Smith, a medical student recovering from drug addiction, and the two men begin a tennis ritual that allows them to shed their inhibitions and find security in the sport they love and with each other. This friendship between doctor and intern grows increasingly rich and complex, more intimate than two men usually allow.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Superbly written and hauntingly real.
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Written by: Abraham Verghese
-
Bel Canto
- Written by: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 94
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 79
Ann Patchett’s award winning, New York Times best-selling Bel Canto balances themes of love and crisis as disparate characters learn that music is their only common language. As in Pratchett’s other novels, including Truth & Beauty and The Magician’s Assistant, the author’s lyrical prose and lucid imagination make Bel Canto a captivating story of strength and frailty, love and imprisonment, and an inspiring tale of transcendent romance.
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5 out of 5 stars
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In this valedictory volume, Yale professor Harold Bloom — who for more than half a century was regarded as America's most daringly original and controversial literary critic — gives us his only book devoted entirely to the art of the novel. With his hallmark percipience, remarkable scholarship, and extraordinary devotion to sublimity, Bloom offers meditations on 48 essential works spanning the Western canon.
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What the critics say
"Hillary Huber's subtly shaded performance couldn't be better as she reveals the complexities that separate and connect the two women.... Huber's delivery of this well-plotted, absorbing story of friendship will leave listeners wanting more." (AudioFile)
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What listeners say about My Brilliant Friend
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Janie N.
- 2019-06-01
Great listen
Great story, but a bewildering number of character names, since so many had nicknames. I needed to go to the print book to check on who was who. But the world of 1950's Naples is compelling and the narrator was excellent.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2024-08-16
Excellent
This story is
captivating. The characters and the neighborhood they grow up in are really interesting. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- alexandra e noga
- 2018-07-23
weakest of the series
This is a very interesting book as it deals with a friendship that is 'unusual' from what one usually reads in novels. Of the four neapolitan novels, I found this the least interesting, but it did help to build the 'foundation' for the rest of the novels, and I think as a series it is very good and very interesting.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Nitin
- 2019-03-24
Italian words pronounced with Spanish pronunciation
This really spoiled my mood to listen. That should have been the first thing to ensure: pronounce the Italian names right. It’s a book about Naples! She is pronouncing the names with a Spanish pronunciation.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Peter
- 2019-01-13
Settle in!
Once I settled into the pace another world in amazing detail opened up. An amazing book in simple language.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sharron padden
- 2023-02-28
My Brilliant Friend
Not the best read I have had. However I didn’t have difficulty finishing it. I kept feeling that the story is for younger people. The ending was very disappointing.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- camallis
- 2021-04-20
The ending was disappointing.
The story, the characters and the reading were all excellent. I looked forward to listening everyday and came to feel that I knew the cast. But the ending was disappointing. There should have been a link at the end to the beginning of the book. Instead, I went to the beginning and Re listened to the initial paragraphs which formed the necessary link.
Leela’s life really emphasized the riches and treasures that are lost when gender or social status and wealth exclude young people from further education. Although she did come to be involved in electronics - a feat unto itself - and no doubt she mastered the task exceptionally - the exclusion of someone like her at such an early age is a loss to all of society - not just to her.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Elaine Amador
- 2018-03-26
Captivating.
I could not stop until I finished it. The characters reminded me people I once knew. I can't wait to start the next one.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Roberta W
- 2024-05-26
First in a great series
I absolutely loved this book. How these two young girls meet and form a bond in Naples lays the groundwork for a fabulous series. See my review of Book 4: The Story of the Lost Child, as there I comment on the series and why I loved it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sesto Vespa
- 2019-03-06
Brilliant!
A captivating story of two lives bound together by childhood and the wish to thrive in an environment that's very unforgiving. The detailed descriptions of everyday life, emotions, experiences and inner thoughts are interesting and never boring. The story is captivating from beginning to end. It leaves you with a sense of 'a life lived through others' . It's excellent! We listened to this on our car on a long road trip - and we never noticed the many hours that went by!
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