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Feb 10, 2018m0mmyl00 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Lila and Elena are elementary school friends in a rough Naples neighborhood just after WWII. Elena is a good girl; does as she’s told and makes high marks in school. Lila is a bit darker. She dares to disobey and even disrespect, and worries not a whit about the repercussions. She takes on bullies and befriends boys with unsavory intentions. Elena idolizes her. Both girls are smart and hungry for education, doubly unfortunate in an era and area with little to offer ambitious girls (at least those with ambitions other than marrying a step up). Elena is championed by a teacher, who insists to her parents that she be allowed to continue school. Lila’s family circumstances, and the lack of a teacher willing to go to bat for her, does not go on past elementary school, but she teaches herself Latin, Greek, and literature, and fans Elena’s intellectual ambitions with her own curiosity and determination and insights. The divergence in the paths laid out for the two girls is profound. Ferrante’s writing is intimate and unembellished; a joy to experience.