My Brilliant Friend is the first novel in Elena Ferrante's acclaimed Neapolitan Quartet, following the complex, lifelong friendship between two women, Elena (Lenù) and Lila, from their childhood in a poor Naples neighborhood in the 1950s through their adolescence. The story explores themes of female friendship, social class, education, and the societal changes in post-war Italy, charting their diverging paths as they navigate life, love, and ambition. It has been adapted into a successful HBO series and a graphic novel.