34 Books like My Brilliant Friend

A Theatre for Dreamers

by Polly Samson

A motherless girl joins a Greek island's artists and learns who pays for their golden summer.

3.40

6k+

🎨 Real Artists Fictionalized 🍷 Bohemian Expats 🌿 Women Behind Genius 🌞 Summer Coming Of Age 🤝 Found Family

A Theatre for Dreamers 90%

A motherless girl joins a Greek island's artists and learns who pays for their golden summer.

by Polly Samson 2021

3.40

6k+ ratings

🎨 Real Artists Fictionalized 🍷 Bohemian Expats 🌿 Women Behind Genius 🌞 Summer Coming Of Age 🤝 Found Family

L'amica geniale. Edizione completa

by Elena Ferrante • 2015

Two dolls vanish in a Naples courtyard. What replaces them is a friendship fiercer than love.

4.55

8k+

🫂 Female Friendship ⚒️ Class Struggle 📚 Education As Escape 🧠 Intellectual Rivalry 👩‍👧 Ambivalent Motherhood

L'amica geniale. Edizione completa Summary

L'amica geniale. Edizione completa 97%

Two dolls vanish in a Naples courtyard. What replaces them is a friendship fiercer than love.

by Elena Ferrante 2015

4.55

8k+ ratings

🫂 Female Friendship ⚒️ Class Struggle 📚 Education As Escape 🧠 Intellectual Rivalry 👩‍👧 Ambivalent Motherhood

The Lying Life of Adults

by Elena Ferrante • 2019

A Naples girl overhears her father call her ugly. She finds the aunt she's forbidden to know.

3.67

87k+

🗝️ Family Secrets 🧬 Inherited Trauma 👧 Female Adolescence 💔 Parental Infidelity 🇮🇹 Southern Italy

The Lying Life of Adults 93%

A Naples girl overhears her father call her ugly. She finds the aunt she's forbidden to know.

by Elena Ferrante 2019

3.67

87k+ ratings

🗝️ Family Secrets 🧬 Inherited Trauma 👧 Female Adolescence 💔 Parental Infidelity 🇮🇹 Southern Italy

La portalettere

by Francesca Giannone • 2023

A northern woman in 1930s southern Italy scandalizes her village by becoming its first postwoman.

4.05

24k+

🏡 Multi-Generational Saga 🌞 Southern Italy 💔 Forbidden Love 👶 Secret Child 🧳 Outsider In Small Town

La portalettere 93%

A northern woman in 1930s southern Italy scandalizes her village by becoming its first postwoman.

by Francesca Giannone 2023

4.05

24k+ ratings

🏡 Multi-Generational Saga 🌞 Southern Italy 💔 Forbidden Love 👶 Secret Child 🧳 Outsider In Small Town

L'Art de la joie

by Goliarda Sapienza • 1998

From Sicilian poverty she rises, loving freely, outliving fascism, learning joy as rebellion.

4.11

11k+

✊ Feminist Epic 🏠 Found Family 💔 Forbidden Queer Love 💰 Rags To Riches 🔥 Defiant Woman

L'Art de la joie 92%

From Sicilian poverty she rises, loving freely, outliving fascism, learning joy as rebellion.

by Goliarda Sapienza 1998

4.11

11k+ ratings

✊ Feminist Epic 🏠 Found Family 💔 Forbidden Queer Love 💰 Rags To Riches 🔥 Defiant Woman

The Book of Goose

by Yiyun Li • 2022

Two girls wrote a book. One became a prodigy. Only the other knew the truth.

3.68

22k+

🖤 Intense Female Friendship 🖋️ Fake Authorship 📖 Storytelling As Control 🇫🇷 Postwar France 🌧️ Melancholy Literary

The Book of Goose 92%

Two girls wrote a book. One became a prodigy. Only the other knew the truth.

by Yiyun Li 2022

3.68

22k+ ratings

🖤 Intense Female Friendship 🖋️ Fake Authorship 📖 Storytelling As Control 🇫🇷 Postwar France 🌧️ Melancholy Literary

La Rivale

by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt • 2012

Once Callas's rival, a forgotten opera singer shares her bitter past with a La Scala guide.

3.37

849

🎼 Opera World 🎭 Backstage Rivalries 😡 Jealous Obsession 🌫️ Melancholic Nostalgia 🌟 Fading Fame

La Rivale 91%

Once Callas's rival, a forgotten opera singer shares her bitter past with a La Scala guide.

by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt 2012

3.37

849 ratings

🎼 Opera World 🎭 Backstage Rivalries 😡 Jealous Obsession 🌫️ Melancholic Nostalgia 🌟 Fading Fame

Aggiustare l'universo

by Raffaella Romagnolo • 2023

After the war, a teacher mends a broken planetarium and a mute orphan's shattered voice.

4.04

922

🏚️ Postwar Italy ✡️ Holocaust Survival 🫂 Found Family 🎭 Hidden Identity 🍎 Teacher Student Bond

Aggiustare l'universo 91%

After the war, a teacher mends a broken planetarium and a mute orphan's shattered voice.

by Raffaella Romagnolo 2023

4.04

922 ratings

🏚️ Postwar Italy ✡️ Holocaust Survival 🫂 Found Family 🎭 Hidden Identity 🍎 Teacher Student Bond

All Our Yesterdays

by Natalia Ginzburg • 1952

In Mussolini's Italy, a teenager's escape marriage strands her in a village the war invades.

3.99

5k+

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Wartime Family Saga 🇮🇹 Small Italian Village ⚡ Fascism And Resistance 🌱 Coming-Of-Age In War 🕊️ Quiet Heroism

All Our Yesterdays 91%

In Mussolini's Italy, a teenager's escape marriage strands her in a village the war invades.

by Natalia Ginzburg 1952

3.99

5k+ ratings

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Wartime Family Saga 🇮🇹 Small Italian Village ⚡ Fascism And Resistance 🌱 Coming-Of-Age In War 🕊️ Quiet Heroism

One Good Thing

by Georgia Hunter • 2025

A Jewish student flees fascist Italy with her best friend's son, forged papers her only shield.

4.26

15k+

🏛️ Wartime Italy 🕯️ Holocaust Fiction 👨‍👩‍👦 Found Family 👭 Female Friendship 🎭 False Identity

One Good Thing 91%

A Jewish student flees fascist Italy with her best friend's son, forged papers her only shield.

by Georgia Hunter 2025

4.26

15k+ ratings

🏛️ Wartime Italy 🕯️ Holocaust Fiction 👨‍👩‍👦 Found Family 👭 Female Friendship 🎭 False Identity

Forbidden Notebook

by Alba de Céspedes • 1952

A middle-aged Roman housewife buys a secret diary and discovers the woman her family has never seen.

4.25

18k+

🖤 Secret Diary 🇮🇹 Postwar Italy 🏠 Domestic Confinement 👩‍👧 Mother Daughter Conflict 🪞 Interior Life

Forbidden Notebook 91%

A middle-aged Roman housewife buys a secret diary and discovers the woman her family has never seen.

by Alba de Céspedes 1952

4.25

18k+ ratings

🖤 Secret Diary 🇮🇹 Postwar Italy 🏠 Domestic Confinement 👩‍👧 Mother Daughter Conflict 🪞 Interior Life

Questa sera è già domani

by Lia Levi • 2018

A Jewish boy in 1930s Genoa discovers that being exceptional cannot protect him from history.

3.51

457

🏛️ Fascist Italy 🕍 Jewish Coming Of Age 🌟 Child Prodigy 🕊️ Subtle Resistance 😰 Impending Dread

Questa sera è già domani 90%

A Jewish boy in 1930s Genoa discovers that being exceptional cannot protect him from history.

by Lia Levi 2018

3.51

457 ratings

🏛️ Fascist Italy 🕍 Jewish Coming Of Age 🌟 Child Prodigy 🕊️ Subtle Resistance 😰 Impending Dread

Hotel Portofino

by J.P. O'Connell • 2022

An Englishwoman's Riviera hotel harbors guests with secrets as fascism rises in 1920s Italy.

3.31

5k+

📺 Ensemble Period Drama 🇮🇹 Italian Riviera 🖼️ Art Theft 🌍 Expatriate Community 🎖️ War Trauma

Hotel Portofino 90%

An Englishwoman's Riviera hotel harbors guests with secrets as fascism rises in 1920s Italy.

by J.P. O'Connell 2022

3.31

5k+ ratings

📺 Ensemble Period Drama 🇮🇹 Italian Riviera 🖼️ Art Theft 🌍 Expatriate Community 🎖️ War Trauma

The Memory Box

by Kathryn Hughes • 2021

A hundred-year-old woman returns to Italy, carrying a box of mementos and a wartime secret.

4.48

16k+

🕰️ Dual Timeline 🔒 Family Secrets 🧳 Evacuee Story 🇮🇹 Wartime Italy 💔 Love Triangle

The Memory Box 90%

A hundred-year-old woman returns to Italy, carrying a box of mementos and a wartime secret.

by Kathryn Hughes 2021

4.48

16k+ ratings

🕰️ Dual Timeline 🔒 Family Secrets 🧳 Evacuee Story 🇮🇹 Wartime Italy 💔 Love Triangle

La monaca

by Simonetta Agnello Hornby • 2010

A noble family in decline has only one use for its most rebellious daughter: the convent.

3.51

542

🏛️ 19th Century Italy ⛪ Convent Life 💔 Love Vs Duty 🕊️ Female Emancipation 🏚️ Aristocratic Decline

La monaca 90%

A noble family in decline has only one use for its most rebellious daughter: the convent.

by Simonetta Agnello Hornby 2010

3.51

542 ratings

🏛️ 19th Century Italy ⛪ Convent Life 💔 Love Vs Duty 🕊️ Female Emancipation 🏚️ Aristocratic Decline

Rules of Civility

by Amor Towles • 2011

A sharp Brooklyn secretary navigates 1938 Manhattan high society after one New Year's encounter.

4.09

273k+

🪜 Social Climbing 💔 Love Triangle 💪 Self-Made Woman 🎩 Manners And Society 🕰️ Bittersweet Nostalgia

Rules of Civility 90%

A sharp Brooklyn secretary navigates 1938 Manhattan high society after one New Year's encounter.

by Amor Towles 2011

4.09

273k+ ratings

🪜 Social Climbing 💔 Love Triangle 💪 Self-Made Woman 🎩 Manners And Society 🕰️ Bittersweet Nostalgia

Still Life

by Sarah Winman • 2021

A Londoner inherits a flat in Florence and gathers the lonely souls who become his family.

4.15

97k+

🤲 Found Family 🍷 Postwar Italy 🏳️‍🌈 Queer Community 💕 Queer Love Story 🕰️ Intergenerational Bonds

Still Life 90%

A Londoner inherits a flat in Florence and gathers the lonely souls who become his family.

by Sarah Winman 2021

4.15

97k+ ratings

🤲 Found Family 🍷 Postwar Italy 🏳️‍🌈 Queer Community 💕 Queer Love Story 🕰️ Intergenerational Bonds

A Girl Returned

by Donatella Di Pietrantonio • 2017

Returned to her struggling birth family at thirteen, an unexpected sister becomes her anchor.

4.09

29k+

🍋 Italian Coming-Of-Age 📵 Maternal Absence 🏘 Dual Families 🔐 Family Secrets 👯 Sisterly Bond

A Girl Returned 93%

Returned to her struggling birth family at thirteen, an unexpected sister becomes her anchor.

by Donatella Di Pietrantonio 2017

4.09

29k+ ratings

🍋 Italian Coming-Of-Age 📵 Maternal Absence 🏘 Dual Families 🔐 Family Secrets 👯 Sisterly Bond

Troubling Love

by Elena Ferrante • 1992

A mother drowns in a new bra. Her daughter returns to Naples to find a stranger.

3.25

26k+

📖 Literary Mystery 👩‍👧 Mother-Daughter Bond 💭 Unreliable Narrator 🔗 Inherited Trauma 👥 Becoming Her Mother

Troubling Love 93%

A mother drowns in a new bra. Her daughter returns to Naples to find a stranger.

by Elena Ferrante 1992

3.25

26k+ ratings

📖 Literary Mystery 👩‍👧 Mother-Daughter Bond 💭 Unreliable Narrator 🔗 Inherited Trauma 👥 Becoming Her Mother

The Instrumentalist

by Harriet Constable

A foundling violinist in Venice plays like fire. Her teacher, Vivaldi, takes every piece she writes.

4.10

12k+

🎻 Classical Music History 🎨 Music As Color 🖋️ Hidden Authorship 🐍 Toxic Mentorship 🔥 Fierce Ambition

The Instrumentalist 89%

A foundling violinist in Venice plays like fire. Her teacher, Vivaldi, takes every piece she writes.

by Harriet Constable 2024

4.10

12k+ ratings

🎻 Classical Music History 🎨 Music As Color 🖋️ Hidden Authorship 🐍 Toxic Mentorship 🔥 Fierce Ambition

The Interestings

by Meg Wolitzer • 2013

At arts camp, six teenagers decide they are exceptional. Forty years of ordinary life disagree.

3.60

124k+

🎨 Creative Ambition 💰 Class And Privilege 🕰️ Long Friendship 💔 Unrequited Love 🫂 Found Family

The Interestings 89%

At arts camp, six teenagers decide they are exceptional. Forty years of ordinary life disagree.

by Meg Wolitzer 2013

3.60

124k+ ratings

🎨 Creative Ambition 💰 Class And Privilege 🕰️ Long Friendship 💔 Unrequited Love 🫂 Found Family

Mrs. Everything

by Jennifer Weiner • 2019

Two sisters. One loves women in secret. One buries her past. A lifetime of becoming themselves.

3.85

95k+

🏡 Family Saga 👭 Sisterhood 🏳️‍🌈 Repressed Sexuality 🩹 Trauma And Healing 🇺🇸 Midcentury America

Mrs. Everything 89%

Two sisters. One loves women in secret. One buries her past. A lifetime of becoming themselves.

by Jennifer Weiner 2019

3.85

95k+ ratings

🏡 Family Saga 👭 Sisterhood 🏳️‍🌈 Repressed Sexuality 🩹 Trauma And Healing 🇺🇸 Midcentury America

Kate & Frida

by Kim Fay • 2025

A bookseller's reply to a Paris writer sparks a friendship by mail, tested by war.

3.97

5k+

📝 Epistolary Novel 👯 Female Friendship 📚 Books About Bookstores 🏠 Found Family 🍽️ Foodie Fiction

Kate & Frida 89%

A bookseller's reply to a Paris writer sparks a friendship by mail, tested by war.

by Kim Fay 2025

3.97

5k+ ratings

📝 Epistolary Novel 👯 Female Friendship 📚 Books About Bookstores 🏠 Found Family 🍽️ Foodie Fiction

The Country Girls

by Edna O'Brien • 1960

A dreamy Irish farm girl moves to Dublin after loss, chasing freedom with her reckless friend.

3.70

9k+

🌱 Female Coming Of Age 🇮🇪 Mid Century Ireland 👯 Friendship And Rivalry 💋 Sexual Awakening 💔 Older Married Lover

The Country Girls 89%

A dreamy Irish farm girl moves to Dublin after loss, chasing freedom with her reckless friend.

by Edna O'Brien 1960

3.70

9k+ ratings

🌱 Female Coming Of Age 🇮🇪 Mid Century Ireland 👯 Friendship And Rivalry 💋 Sexual Awakening 💔 Older Married Lover

The Idiot

by Elif Batuman • 2017

A Harvard freshman discovers that email can spark a love affair words alone cannot sustain.

3.64

110k+

🎓 Campus Novel 📚 Intellectual Attraction 💔 Unresolved Longing ✈️ Summer Abroad 📧 Email Correspondence

The Idiot 89%

A Harvard freshman discovers that email can spark a love affair words alone cannot sustain.

by Elif Batuman 2017

3.64

110k+ ratings

🎓 Campus Novel 📚 Intellectual Attraction 💔 Unresolved Longing ✈️ Summer Abroad 📧 Email Correspondence

The Air You Breathe

by Frances de Pontes Peebles • 2018

A servant and a planter's daughter chase samba, stardom, and a bond that will undo them.

3.88

9k+

🏳️‍🌈 Sapphic Historical 💔 Toxic Female Friendship 👤 Invisible Creator 🌈 Queer Longing 🫂 Found Family

The Air You Breathe 89%

A servant and a planter's daughter chase samba, stardom, and a bond that will undo them.

by Frances de Pontes Peebles 2018

3.88

9k+ ratings

🏳️‍🌈 Sapphic Historical 💔 Toxic Female Friendship 👤 Invisible Creator 🌈 Queer Longing 🫂 Found Family

The Female Persuasion

by Meg Wolitzer • 2018

When a shy student meets a feminist legend, ambition pulls her toward power and compromise.

3.56

58k+

🧑‍🏫 Feminist Mentorship 💼 Corporate Feminism 🏫 College Campus 🌧️ Campus Assault 💔 Sisterhood Tested

The Female Persuasion 89%

When a shy student meets a feminist legend, ambition pulls her toward power and compromise.

by Meg Wolitzer 2018

3.56

58k+ ratings

🧑‍🏫 Feminist Mentorship 💼 Corporate Feminism 🏫 College Campus 🌧️ Campus Assault 💔 Sisterhood Tested

The Baron in the Trees

by Italo Calvino • 1977

Over a plate of snails, a boy climbs into the trees and never comes down.

4.02

55k+

🦉 Philosophical Fable 🌿 Coming Of Age Rebellion 💔 Tempestuous Romance 🎭 First Love Returns 🍂 Whimsical Melancholy

The Baron in the Trees 89%

Over a plate of snails, a boy climbs into the trees and never comes down.

by Italo Calvino 1977

4.02

55k+ ratings

🦉 Philosophical Fable 🌿 Coming Of Age Rebellion 💔 Tempestuous Romance 🎭 First Love Returns 🍂 Whimsical Melancholy

The Days of Abandonment

by Elena Ferrante • 2002

Her husband leaves. A woman descends into fury, grief, and the raw fight to reclaim herself.

3.86

60k+

🏚️ Marital Dissolution 🌀 Psychological Unraveling 💔 Abandoned Wife 👩‍👧 Maternal Ambivalence 🔥 Female Rage

The Days of Abandonment 89%

Her husband leaves. A woman descends into fury, grief, and the raw fight to reclaim herself.

by Elena Ferrante 2002

3.86

60k+ ratings

🏚️ Marital Dissolution 🌀 Psychological Unraveling 💔 Abandoned Wife 👩‍👧 Maternal Ambivalence 🔥 Female Rage

The Flamethrowers

by Rachel Kushner • 2013

A motorcyclist turns speed into art, then follows her Italian lover into his family's violent world.

3.51

25k+

🎨 1970s Art World 💫 Artist And Muse 💰 Old Money Family ⚡ Political Violence 👩‍🎨 Woman Artist

The Flamethrowers 89%

A motorcyclist turns speed into art, then follows her Italian lover into his family's violent world.

by Rachel Kushner 2013

3.51

25k+ ratings

🎨 1970s Art World 💫 Artist And Muse 💰 Old Money Family ⚡ Political Violence 👩‍🎨 Woman Artist

Moon Tiger

by Penelope Lively • 1987

On her deathbed, a brilliant historian reassembles her century, but the pieces refuse to add up.

3.91

20k+

📖 Nonlinear Narrative 💔 WWII Love Story 👥 Intense Sibling Bond 💫 Difficult Woman Protagonist 🧩 Unconventional Motherhood

Moon Tiger 89%

On her deathbed, a brilliant historian reassembles her century, but the pieces refuse to add up.

by Penelope Lively 1987

3.91

20k+ ratings

📖 Nonlinear Narrative 💔 WWII Love Story 👥 Intense Sibling Bond 💫 Difficult Woman Protagonist 🧩 Unconventional Motherhood

Mariana

by Monica Dickens • 1940

Through a storm, Mary Shannon waits for her husband's ship and relives a lifetime of love.

3.90

3k+

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Interwar Britain 🌅 Bittersweet Nostalgia 🌿 English Countryside 🎭 Artistic Ambition 💔 Unrequited Love

Mariana 89%

Through a storm, Mary Shannon waits for her husband's ship and relives a lifetime of love.

by Monica Dickens 1940

3.90

3k+ ratings

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Interwar Britain 🌅 Bittersweet Nostalgia 🌿 English Countryside 🎭 Artistic Ambition 💔 Unrequited Love

Rich and Pretty

by Rumaan Alam • 2016

One marries into Manhattan privilege, the other stagnates. Their lifelong friendship starts to fray.

2.77

11k+

🫂 Female Friendship 🛤️ Diverging Paths 🌫️ Quiet Melancholy 🗽 New York City 📖 Book Club Fiction

Rich and Pretty 89%

One marries into Manhattan privilege, the other stagnates. Their lifelong friendship starts to fray.

by Rumaan Alam 2016

2.77

11k+ ratings

🫂 Female Friendship 🛤️ Diverging Paths 🌫️ Quiet Melancholy 🗽 New York City 📖 Book Club Fiction

Mary Jane

by Jessica Anya Blau • 2021

A sheltered Baltimore teen spends one summer nannying for a family hiding a famous rock star.

4.12

115k+

📅 1970s Coming Of Age 🏠 Bohemian Household 🩷 Found Family 👶 Nanny Protagonist 🔒 Sheltered Protagonist

Mary Jane 89%

A sheltered Baltimore teen spends one summer nannying for a family hiding a famous rock star.

by Jessica Anya Blau 2021

4.12

115k+ ratings

📅 1970s Coming Of Age 🏠 Bohemian Household 🩷 Found Family 👶 Nanny Protagonist 🔒 Sheltered Protagonist

Compare Features	Free	Pro
📖 Read Summaries Read unlimited summaries. Free users get 3 per month
🎧 Listen to Summaries Listen to unlimited summaries in 40 languages	—
❤️ Unlimited Bookmarks Free users are limited to 4	—
📜 Unlimited History Free users are limited to 4	—
📥 Unlimited Downloads Free users are limited to 1	—

People love SoBrief

Join our global community of 600,000+ readers

★★★★★

This site is a total game-changer. I've been flying through book summaries like never before. Highly, highly recommend.

— Dave G

Worth my money and time, and really well made. I've never seen this quality of summaries on other websites. Very helpful!

— Em

Highly recommended!! Fantastic service. Perfect for those that want a little more than a teaser but not all the intricate details of a full audio book.

— Greg M