I am publishing a children’s book. It’s a story about a little girl who learns about values through the arrival of different animals to her family’s hobby farm.

Since publication of the first book in 2011, the Neapolitan Novels have made their way into the highest echelon of modern literature. The tetralogy was written by Elena Ferrante, a pseudonymous author who was said to be born in Naples, Italy in the early 1940s.

Over the course of four books, which begins with L’amica geniale, or My Brilliant Friend in its English translation, this series tells the story of the complex relationship between two women as they navigate the tumultuous terrain of postwar Italy, women’s rights, factory uprisings, and the savage Neapolitan neighborhood in which they grew up.

I found myself immediately addicted to the story, and so strong was my attachment to the novels that I put off reading the final book for several months because I wasn’t ready to part with the characters yet.

This series is brilliant. Here’s why: