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My Brilliant Friend Audiobook
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Publisher Description
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.
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“Hillary Huber’s subtly shaded performance couldn’t be better as she reveals the complexities that separate and connect the two women…Ferrante’s dense, rich prose provides the perfect palette for Huber’s artistry. Huber’s delivery of this well-plotted, absorbing story of friendship will leave listeners wanting more.”
— AudioFile
Quotes
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“One of the more nuanced portraits of feminine friendship in recent memory.”
— Vogue -
“An intoxicatingly furious portrait of enmeshed friends…Ferrante writes with such aggression and unnerving psychological insight about the messy complexity of female friendship .”
— Entertainment Weekly -
“Ferrante’s freshness has nothing to do with fashion…it is imbued with the most haunting music of all, the echoes of literary history.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“Ferrante, beautifully translated by Ann Goldstein…writes with a ferocious, intimate urgency.”
— San Francisco Chronicle -
“This gorgeous novel should bring a host of new readers to one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors.”
— Barnes&Noble.com -
“Ferrante’s unflinching and insightful prose…is captivating and hopeful.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“It is Lila and her dreams and caprices that drive everything…Lila, mercurial, unsparing, and…seemingly capable of starting a full-scale neighborhood war, is a memorable character.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“What is most essential to the story is what is most essential in all our stories: love, loss, sex, marriage, children, friendship, family, dreams, and everything in between.”
— Literary Hub
Awards
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A New York Times bestseller
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A BuzzFeed Books Pick for Life Changing Books to Read with Your Mom
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BookPage Top Pick for Binge-Reading a Series
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A 2018 New York Times Pick of the New Vanguard in Fiction
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A Bustle Pick of 12 Modern Books That Will Become Classics
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An Electric Literature Pick of 9 Toxic Friendships in Literature
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A Literary Hub Pick of the Best Translated Novels of the Decade
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An Amazon Editor’s Top Pick of Book Series to Binge On
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A Harper’s Bazaar Pick of Books You Should Read before Visiting Their Country
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A London Guardian Pick of Best Books of the 21st Century
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A Time Magazine Top 10 Book of the Decade in Fiction
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A Town & Country Magazine Pick of 17 Best Books of the Decade
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A New York Public Library Staff Pick of Favorite Books of the Last 125 Years
My Brilliant Friend Listener Reviews
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Mannie Hughes, 5/21/2025
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kim topping, 11/24/2022
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catherine dalisera, 12/6/2021
About Elena Ferrante
Elena Ferrante, author of The Days of Abandonment, Troubling Love, and My Brilliant Friend, among others, is one of Italy’s most important and acclaimed contemporary writers. She was named one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2016 by Time.
About Hillary Huber
Hillary Huber, a Los Angeles–based voice talent, in 2025 was named a Golden Voice, AudioFile magazine’s lifetime achievement honor for audiobook narrators. She has won Voice Arts Awards and more than thirty AudioFile Earphones Awards for narration. She has with hundreds of commercials and promos under her belt. She has a BA degree in English Literature.