Alex Hyde is a lecturer at University College London. Violets, her first novel, is a fictional reimagining of her father’s story, drawing on family mythology and his personal archives. She lives with her family in South London.
At the Guardian Hyde tagged ten top fictional mirrored lives, including:
My Brilliant Friend by Elena FerranteRead about another entry on the list.
Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet follows two childhood friends as their lives take different paths, weaving in and out of one another’s influence and affections. The first book explores their relationship growing up in postwar Naples, a place ofcasual violence, sexual threat and a grinding lack of opportunities for escape. Elena and Lila make different choices, framed by the constraints of their circumstances but also by their different capabilities and fears. Their friendship has the sense of a quiet, calculated game, with one always a step ahead of the other.
My Brilliant Friend is among William Finnegan's ten favorite books.
--Marshal Zeringue
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