--- product_id: 48178139 title: "The Story of a New Name: My Brilliant Friend Book 2: Youth (Neapolitan Quartet, 2)" price: "VT9745" currency: VUV in_stock: true reviews_count: 10 url: https://www.desertcart.vu/products/48178139-the-story-of-a-new-name-my-brilliant-friend-book store_origin: VU region: Vanuatu --- # Set in vivid post-war Naples backdrop Deep exploration of female friendship Paperback format for easy portability The Story of a New Name: My Brilliant Friend Book 2: Youth (Neapolitan Quartet, 2) **Price:** VT9745 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > 📖 Unlock the power of friendship and fierce identity in every page! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Story of a New Name: My Brilliant Friend Book 2: Youth (Neapolitan Quartet, 2) - **How much does it cost?** VT9745 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.vu](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/48178139-the-story-of-a-new-name-my-brilliant-friend-book) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Immersive Setting:** Experience the gritty, vibrant streets of Naples through rich storytelling - • **Cliffhanger Ending:** Keeps you hooked, eager for the next installment in the Neapolitan Quartet - • **Portable Paperback:** Lightweight and easy to carry for reading anywhere - • **Complex Female Bonds:** Dive into a subversive love story centered on lifelong friendship - • **Critically Acclaimed:** Rated 4.3/5 by over 16,000 readers, a must-read literary gem ## Overview The Story of a New Name is the second book in Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet, a bestselling literary fiction series exploring the intense, complicated friendship between two women growing up in post-war Naples. This paperback edition offers a portable, immersive read praised for its emotional depth and vivid setting, with a compelling cliffhanger that leaves readers craving more. ## Description Buy The Story of a New Name: My Brilliant Friend Book 2: Youth (Neapolitan Quartet, 2) by Ferrante, Elena, Goldstein, Ann from desertcart's Fiction Books Store. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. Review: A love story of female friendship - This second book opens with a brief prologue then returns to where the first one ended, at Lila's wedding at the age of 16. I don't want to say anything else about the plot which would spoil it for other readers, but Ferrante continues her completely absorbing paean to female friendship: a friendship which is complicated, contradictory, which ebbs and flows as life forces a separation between Lila and Elena yet never succeeds in breaking their bonds. This is, effectively, a subversive love story where, despite the men who come and go, the central sustaining love at the heart of the book is that between Lila and Elena, a love which lasts, we know, from when they were children playing with their dolls till they are old women - though not without its tensions, jealousies and competitions. The other magnificent character is the small, dirty, violent, macho, working-class neighbourhood of Naples - and the interactions between environment and character are crucial. In this book, critical events happen outside: the summer holiday at Ischia, Elena's move to university in Pisa, but, like the women's essential relationship, they remained tied in complex ways to the neighbourhood. It's difficult to express quite how all-absorbing these books are: suffice to say, I've forced myself to read this slowly so as not to finish it too fast - even though there are places where I've just wanted to turn the pages faster and faster to see what happens next! These are such rich books, so intelligent about women lives (wild Lila's obsession with erasing herself, whether through physical displacement or the destruction of her wedding picture) but also just so gripping. The claustrophobia of the setting, the violence of macho-patriarchy, the revelations of Lila's life give a febrile intensity to this book - I'm going to have a slight break but will be turning to book 3 very soon. Review: focussing on children growing up in a poor neighbourhood. It is written in first person by ... - Fascinating insight into life in post-war Naples, focussing on children growing up in a poor neighbourhood. It is written in first person by a woman, Elena, looking back at her youth, and in particular, examining her friendship with Lila, an intelligent, enigmatic girl form the neighbourhood. Their paths diverge at the point where one stays on at school and the other leaves before going to middle school. However, they remain in contact and Elena tells the story of her relationship with Lila and the contrasting events in their lives. I found it a compelling read, but found some of the sentence formation and grammar rather clunky: is this the translation from Italian, or problems with the original text? I suspect the former. However, I was driven to read the next two books in the trilogy, though I believe it will become a quartet in September 2015, as this first novel ends on something of a cliff-hanger which leaves the reader wanting to know the next part of the saga! ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | 207,210 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 807 in Women's Literary Fiction (Books) 3,264 in Literary Fiction (Books) 4,506 in Historical Fiction (Books) | | Book 2 of 4 | Neapolitan Novels | | Customer reviews | 4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars (16,500) | | Dimensions | 13.46 x 4.57 x 20.83 cm | | Edition | 1st | | ISBN-10 | 1609451341 | | ISBN-13 | 978-1609451349 | | Item weight | 1.05 kg | | Language | English | | Print length | 480 pages | | Publication date | 30 Sept. 2013 | | Publisher | Europa Editions | ## Images ![The Story of a New Name: My Brilliant Friend Book 2: Youth (Neapolitan Quartet, 2) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/819hz4I82RL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A love story of female friendship *by R***A on 6 March 2017* This second book opens with a brief prologue then returns to where the first one ended, at Lila's wedding at the age of 16. I don't want to say anything else about the plot which would spoil it for other readers, but Ferrante continues her completely absorbing paean to female friendship: a friendship which is complicated, contradictory, which ebbs and flows as life forces a separation between Lila and Elena yet never succeeds in breaking their bonds. This is, effectively, a subversive love story where, despite the men who come and go, the central sustaining love at the heart of the book is that between Lila and Elena, a love which lasts, we know, from when they were children playing with their dolls till they are old women - though not without its tensions, jealousies and competitions. The other magnificent character is the small, dirty, violent, macho, working-class neighbourhood of Naples - and the interactions between environment and character are crucial. In this book, critical events happen outside: the summer holiday at Ischia, Elena's move to university in Pisa, but, like the women's essential relationship, they remained tied in complex ways to the neighbourhood. It's difficult to express quite how all-absorbing these books are: suffice to say, I've forced myself to read this slowly so as not to finish it too fast - even though there are places where I've just wanted to turn the pages faster and faster to see what happens next! These are such rich books, so intelligent about women lives (wild Lila's obsession with erasing herself, whether through physical displacement or the destruction of her wedding picture) but also just so gripping. The claustrophobia of the setting, the violence of macho-patriarchy, the revelations of Lila's life give a febrile intensity to this book - I'm going to have a slight break but will be turning to book 3 very soon. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ focussing on children growing up in a poor neighbourhood. It is written in first person by ... *by S***M on 12 May 2015* Fascinating insight into life in post-war Naples, focussing on children growing up in a poor neighbourhood. It is written in first person by a woman, Elena, looking back at her youth, and in particular, examining her friendship with Lila, an intelligent, enigmatic girl form the neighbourhood. Their paths diverge at the point where one stays on at school and the other leaves before going to middle school. However, they remain in contact and Elena tells the story of her relationship with Lila and the contrasting events in their lives. I found it a compelling read, but found some of the sentence formation and grammar rather clunky: is this the translation from Italian, or problems with the original text? I suspect the former. However, I was driven to read the next two books in the trilogy, though I believe it will become a quartet in September 2015, as this first novel ends on something of a cliff-hanger which leaves the reader wanting to know the next part of the saga! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazing *by A***R on 4 November 2025* Amazing ## Frequently Bought Together - The Story of a New Name: A Novel (Neapolitan Novels, 2) - Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay: A Novel (Neapolitan Novels, 3) - The Story of the Lost Child: A Novel (Neapolitan Novels, 4) --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.vu/products/48178139-the-story-of-a-new-name-my-brilliant-friend-book](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/48178139-the-story-of-a-new-name-my-brilliant-friend-book) --- *Product available on Desertcart Vanuatu* *Store origin: VU* *Last updated: 2026-06-07*