Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a great book. Not everybody will enjoy it and it is definitively not a chick-lit. While this is a book about friendship, I noticed that a lot of people with negative reviews came disappointed with that aspect of the book. This is a brilliant book about more than just friendship. It is also a powerful story about poverty, backwardness, class, and isolation (I know, favorite topics of most readers). What is brilliant about the book's treatment of these problems, is that while it is placed in a specific place and time (Naples in 1950s), it gets to the universal effects these problems create in people's lives from childhood onwards. In essence, it says a lot about poor rural areas or urban ghettoes in the US in 2014. This is also a book about what it takes to get out of these problems and about the power of example, love, and friendship. It is written in a direct and sometimes disturbing way. It's raw. There is no hiding or prettifying the truth. So, if you are looking for a chick-lit, keep looking. If violence and abuse of any kind disturb you, move on. If you want something that will make you feel good at all times, do the same. Finally, it gets better after a first quarter or so. It is worth sticking with it even if your are not excited early on.