My Brilliant Friend, by the pseudonymous Italian author Elena Ferrante, is the New York Times’ No. 1 book of the century. This recognition, and the recent adaptation of Ferrante’s four-novel Neopolitan Quartet into an HBO series, underscores this writer’s profound influence. 

Ferrante’s popular novels, translated into English by Ann Goldstein, are an intimate exploration of friendship, motherhood, identity and societal structures in mid-20th century, postwar Naples. They’ve also inspired research and courses at UC Berkeley by Annamaria Bellezza, a distinguished senior lecturer in Italian studies; Mario Telò, professor of ancient Greek and Roman studies, rhetoric and comparative literature; and Rhiannon Welch, the Giovanni and Ruth Elizabeth Cechetti Chair of Italian Literature.