The Bergstein List
The Story of a New Name
This is the second of the four Neapolitan Novels; I loved My Brilliant Friend, too, but The Story of a New Name takes all of the elements of the first one–politics, romance, and social rivalries–and turns up the volume. Lila and Lenu are lifelong best friends and in many ways, each other’s inverse reflections. Both young women celebrate, and often covet, what the other has, and the resulting portrait of female friendship is fascinating.