My Brilliant Friend
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
My Brilliant Friendends where it begins.
The consciousness of the story is there for no other purpose than that it must be told.
But in the final act, we are reminded that the writing we are experiencing is motivated by truthandspite.
Tina is gone, and now so is Lila gone where, nobody knows.
When we open on Restitution, some time has gone by since Tinas disappearance Lenu wears a fabulous bob.
Lila has all but lost every bit of will to keep going.
People, things, emotions they all merge together.
What little inhibition she had before is now gone.
But Lilas patience for compromise or moderation is short.
Now that Lila isnt around as much, Lenu tries to catch up with everything she missed.
Over pizza one night, Lenu asks Dede point-blank if shes in love with Gennaro.
The answer is yes, though shes not sure whether he feels the same way.
This development preoccupies Lenu more than Dedes exams.
What follows is a conversation gnarled with subtext.
Nevertheless, Lenu is disgusted by Ninos politicking.
By lunchtime, the subtext of their conversation erupts violently into the surface.
Very well, that mentality lands him in jail.
Years later, the Honorable Sarratore is arrested on corruption charges.
When Lenu gets home after visiting Nino in Parliament, something much more urgent has happened.
Lila tells her simply that Gennaro has left home.
), but theyre doing it away from Naples.
Lila is so shocked that it was Elsa who left with Gennaro that it makes her laugh.
But Lenu doesnt think its funny in fact, Lenu wants to call the police.
Unlike Gennaro, Elsa is a minor, and she could report him for kidnapping.
Its Enzo who goes to Bologna with Lenu.
Its as if Lila has slid into the void left by our daughter, he explains.
Enzo calls Lila, who tells Lenu to call Dede, who has news.
Secondly, Elsa that bitch Greco is at Adele and Guidos house.
When she makes it to the Airotas, Adele gives her a weirdly warm hug.
Whereas Lenu is limited in her ability to identify her part in Elsas misbehavior, Pietro is more perceptive.
Shortly before Dede leaves to join Pietro in the U.S., she hyperventilates at the dinner table.
One thing about Dede is that shes going to be real.
All you care about is Aunt Lila and work, she tells her mother at the airport.
The real punishment for Elsa is to stay here.
Dede saves all of her warmth and tenderness for Imma; for Lenu theres only a cold good-bye.
Lenu tells Lila tactlessly that in just a couple of days [she has] lost both her daughters.
Two years later, hes still there, minding his business.
Now that shes an established writer, could she weather another shift?
Lenu goes upstairs to talk to Lila.
But, for once, Lila doesnt double down.
But Lila brushes it off; shes not writing anything.
I dont even have the desire to live.
They hug once mechanically and then another time, truthfully.
Im so glad weve been friends all this time and that we are still, Lila says.
I also resent this ending because it smooths over some of the messier implications in the book.
Inside, there they are: the two dolls, Tina and Nu, that started everything.
A single tear runs down Lenus cheek, but she smiles.
