Elena Ferrante

Against the backdrop of a Naples that is as seductive as it is perilous and a world undergoing epochal change, this story of a lifelong friendship is told with unmatched honesty. Lila and Elena clash, drift apart, reconcile, and clash again, in the process revealing new facets of their friendship.

The Story of the Lost Child

We woke up happy to have slept together: ah, it was wonderful to stretch out a foot and discover, after the unconsciousness of sleep, that he was there in the bed, beside me.

For him only the two of us counted. Remember that we're here, now, together, he said, the rest is background and will change.

this is like the part in #3 where she talks about her relationship with Lila as the knight & the shepherd

We took refuge in us as if in shining armour. 

He had a curiosity about the world of women that was genuine. But this I knew very well by now—he didn't in the least resemble the men who in those years made a show of giving up at least a few of their privileges. I thought not only of professors, architects, artists who came to our house and displayed a sort of feminization of behaviors, feelings, opinions; but also of Carmen's husband, Roberto, who was really helpful, and Enzo, who with no hesitation would have sacrificed all his time to Lila's needs. Nino was sincerely interested in how women found themselves. There was no dinner at which he did not repeat that to think 

 them was now the only way to a true thought. But he held tight to his spaces and his numerous activities, he put first of all, always and only, himself, he didn't give up an instant of his time.

So much fuss about the greatness of this one and that one, but what virtue is there in being born with certain qualities, it's like admiring the bingo basket when you shake it and good numbers come out. 

Only in bad novels people always think the right thing, always say the right thing, every effect has its cause, there are the likable ones and the unlikable, the good and the bad, everything in the end consoles you.

aywen

Every intense relationship between human beings is full of traps, and if you want it to endure you have to learn to avoid them.

The Story of the Lost Child quotes

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