Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet: A Participatory Study

Four Fridays: Nov. 6, Nov. 20, Dec. 4, Dec. 18 |10:30 a.m. – 12 noon
Bethany Congregational Church | 556 N. Hope Avenue, Santa Barbara
VISTAS members only: $25 inclusive. Enrollment limited to 20

Coordinated by Elayne Klasson
Published between 2011 and 2015, the books comprising the Quartet have been widely recognized as great literature. In addition to their literary value, they give important historical and economic views of Post–World War II Italy. Ferrante has been called one of today’s most influential novelists. In July of 2024, the first book of the Quartet, My Brilliant Friend, was named by the N.Y. Times as the best book of the 21st century. Our class will be held book-group style, with everyone contributing, but Dr. Klasson will add literary, psychological, and historical perspective. There will be four 1.5-hour sessions—each devoted to one of the books. The discussion will be enhanced if participants have read the Quartet and/or seen the HBO series that was based on it.