The podcast Divaniamo: The Brilliant Friend, where does the phenomenon come from?

Friends and enemies, accomplices and rivals, united by an invisible bond that has nothing to do with blood, but with a deep, endemic and persistent feeling. Lila and Lenù, the protagonists of The Brilliant Friend, they are two halves of the same whole, two cells that seem unable to do without each other even though, in their hearts, they know that that constant confrontation will lead them to unhappiness and dissatisfaction. The world that Elena Ferrante managed to give back by telling the story of these two little girls who grow up and become women, confronting a hostile reality where the only pass for a better life seems to be study and money, catapult us into a worthy story as much fifty years ago as today. Because certain bonds don’t break, and certain feelings don’t crouch even if we push them deep inside, pretending they don’t exist. What, however, is the secret of the Ferrante formula that has bewitched not only Italy, but the whole world? What is the trick that has aroused fascination and curiosity in such different and heterogeneous worlds?

The thirteenth episode of We divan, the Vanity Fair podcast hosted by Mario Manca and dedicated to cinema and TV releases, wonders how it is The Brilliant Frienda successful novel – published by Edizioni E / O – that millions of readers around the world have been anxiously awaiting, has become a cult phenomenon of such mammoth proportions, giving life to a TV series of rare beauty that has done nothing but strengthen the so-called “Ferrante Fever” in the fans. Thanks to the mystery that has always hovered over her figure, but also her ability to tell women not so much through the most edifying traits, as much in what she herself would define “fringes”, Elena Ferrante, with The Brilliant Friendhits the mark thanks to a simple story that could very well have been ours: that of a friendship that is based on a bond that goes beyond affection and goes towards gray areas that are anything but obvious, from confrontation to competition, from envy to mutual support.