Written under the pseudonym of Elena Ferrante, the saga of L'Amie prodigies (already sold, in France, to 1.2 million copies), the fourth and last volume of which will be released in October, tells a friendship between two young women, Elena and Lila, and in hollow history of Italy since the early 1950s. But there is a third heroine: the city of Naples. More than a decor, a character in its own right and discovered, reveals its different facets and evolves over the pages. "Elena and Lila are like the two faces of Naples, intellectual and instinctive," says Lia Polcari, founder of the Evaluna feminist library. And their passionate relationship also recalls that of the Neapolitans to their city, between love and hate. " The legend of Castel dell'Ovo The saga begins in what appears to be the neighborhood of Rione Luzzatti, on the outskirts of Naples. It is in this popular suburb populated by social housing built after the First World War that Elena and Lila grow up. For the traveler, it is not the most beautiful part of Naples to visit, but it allows to better understand the glass ceiling that weighs on young girls when they discover the downtown. They meet the well-to-do families on the pedestrian and shopping street via Chiaia, then the chic via Dei Mille and the piazza Dei Martiri with its monument to the majestic lions surrounded by luxury signs. A stone's throw away, Castel dell'Ovo, built in the 9th century and modified over time, testifies to the successive domains (Greek, Byzantine, Norman, Angevin ...) that shaped the architecture of the city. Its name refers to its legend: under the castle would be hidden an egg whose destruction would entail that of Naples. After crossing the via Mezzocannone where the bookstores frequented by the students of the university are located, we reach the historical center: the 19th century town hall, from which we can now see the scaffolding archaeological remains, but also The railway station of Piazza Garibaldi, now sheltered by a glass structure of the French architect Dominique Perrault. Private beach "I was overwhelmed by the names, the traffic noise, the voices, the colors, the festive atmosphere that prevailed everywhere," recalls Elena