I expected so much more from this novel. I won't be reading the rest of the series, so I guess I won’t find out about Lila's disappearance, which is disclosed in the prologue.

I was unable to sustain much interest in the many characters and clans that populate the book. Beyond the narrator, Elena, and her friend Lila, the book presents a mishmash of families, extended families, dalliances, feuds, and nicknames. Was it Antonio that was Elena’s boyfriend at one time? Or was it Alfonso? Does it really matter?

The publisher has a list of discussion questions for this book (www.europaeditions.com/archivio/libri/reading_group_guide_220.pdf). I'd like to address one of them:

It can be assumed that Elena’s voice is behind the title of the novel, referring to Lila as “her brilliant friend.” However, toward the end of the girls’ story [Chapter 57], it is Lila who praises Elena, and encourages her to be “my brilliant friend, the best of all, boys and girls." Is this dialogue between the two girls symbolic of Lila’s surrender? Are you surprised by Lila’s words?

I was very surprised that Lila urged Elena to be the “brilliant friend.” Up to this point, from Elena’s point of view, Lila is the one exhibiting “brilliance.” Lila effortlessly writes stories and works complex arithmetic problems; Lila bravely confronts the Solara boys; Lila designs shoes. I don’t think of the dialogue in Chapter 57 as representing Lila’s surrender; Lila is manipulative and knows just when and how to flatter Elena. In Chapter 36, Elena observes that Lila “threw things off balance just to see if she could put them back in some other way.” While I do believe Lila thinks of Elena as a true friend, the two are competitors even if they don’t perceive it.