I have read a few books set in Italy, and this one does a great job of painting a picture of small town in Naples, back in the 1950’s. The book is the first in a series of four, written by a famous Italian author and translated into English. The translation felt natural to me, a little too modern sometimes, but easy enough to read.
The story is focused on the friendship between two girls who grow up together and take different paths through life. Each inspires the other, and we watch them navigate life as best they can while (unknowingly) depending on each other.
In these days women were not expected to go beyond elementary school, and the level of toxic masculinity portrayed in these pages was shocking and hopefully exaggerated fiction. Most of the book was told in the way that gossip is spread from person to person – so I sometimes felt a little dirty reading these stories.
Although the writing was well done and the story was interesting enough, I didn’t feel like I identified with any of the characters – and sometimes was frustrated with the main characters’ self-centered outlook. I know that this is the viewpoint of a young girl/woman but I don’t know if I can stick through another three books to see how it turns out.
Next I am reading The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong.
