Growing up, many of us have close friends who are either more clever, more charismatic and/or seemingly destine to do great things in life than we are. And we can be endlessly proud of them – not least because we are also part of their lives. 
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Such pairing of two girls growing up in a poor, violent neighborhood in southern Italian city of Naples, fictionalized; and yet the smell, sound and sight of their surroundings still persist despite having the read the book many years ago is anything but ordinary.
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In fact, it is extraordinary because the novel My Brilliant Friend has been voted the Best of “The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century” organized by The New York Times Book Review. Votes came from 503 novelists, non-fiction writers, poets, critics and other book lovers including Stephen King, James Patterson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Min Jin Lee, and Sarah Maclean.
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My Brilliant Friend is the first of the a four-book series by Elena Ferrante. She is an author without a face, whose identity is known only to her Italian publisher. Her name is a pseudonym.
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Translated beautifully into English by Ann Goldstein, would anyone believe that the storytelling of relations between two girls can evolve into an epic “as propulsively as early universe, encompassing ideas about art and politics, class and gender, philosophy and fate, all through a dedicated focus on the conflicted, competitive friendships between Elena and Lisa as they grow into complicated adults,” describes NYT.
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My Brilliant Friend also burst as a TV series following the success of the book series which served readers’ thirst for narratives with genuine feelings amid modern life complexities. It rode on and cemented the popularity of the so-called autofiction - a blend of personal account which everyone can relate to, alongside the narrative creativity.  
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The novel begins with Lila giving up her study to work in the family’s shoe factory, while Elena gets classical education and ends up leaving the impoverished Naples to seek fortune elsewhere.
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It then seduces slowly and describes the LA Times, “possesses a hitherto unseen power of attraction and that irresistible je ne sais quoi that makes an overnight success.” 
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Back to our ordinary everyday lives – we talk, gossip, admire and mince at some of our “brilliant friends” who have made it in the adult world – each and every one truly an epic: c’est-ce pas?