My Brilliant Friend: Ferrante's Naples and Ischia

The novels never name the district, but Italian Wikipedia gives Rione Luzzatti as the main setting. Here, in 1950s Naples, Elena and Lila grow up in a poor neighbourhood full of violence and strife, and Lila hurls Elena's doll into the loan shark's cellar chute. The district lies along the railway toward Napoli Centrale and takes its name from Luigi Luzzatti, who started its public housing. The TV series rebuilt it as a set in Caserta.

Location precision: The novels do not name the district; the pin marks Rione Luzzatti, the setting named by Italian Wikipedia.

On a doctor's advice Lila needs a season at the sea, and Elena agrees only if it is Ischia, where she knows Nino Sarratore will be. The young people spend their days discussing literature and politics with Nino and his friend Bruno Soccavo. Then Nino and Lila begin an affair, and Elena is left alone on the beach. The island lies about 30 kilometres from Naples, and the TV series filmed here too.

Location precision: The pin marks the whole island; the novel does not tie these scenes to one beach or house.

At her school-leaving exam an examiner tells Elena about the Scuola Normale in Pisa, where a scholarship lets her study without fees. She sits the entrance exam and wins a place. Back in Naples, the neighbourhood later pretends Lila was in Pisa with her. The Normale, founded in 1810 by decree of Napoleon, sits in the Palazzo della Carovana on Piazza dei Cavalieri, in the medieval centre of Pisa.

Having left Stefano, Lila moves in with Enzo in a working-class district, San Giovanni a Teduccio, and takes a job in the sausage factory owned by Bruno Soccavo. Elena visits and finds her in awful conditions. The two reconcile and say they do not want to lose each other. Elena gives her The Blue Fairy, and as she leaves she sees Lila throw the book into a furnace.

Location precision: The novel names the district, not a street or building; the pin marks the district.

Elena leaves Naples, earns her degree and publishes a novel, yet finds herself trapped in a stifling marriage. She goes back to Florence to marry Pietro. At home with two young daughters she has a hard time writing, and she feels trapped and alienated. In Florence she runs into Nino again, when Pietro brings him home.

Location precision: The books place these scenes in Florence generally; the pin marks the city centre.

In 1992 Elena leaves the neighbourhood and moves to Turin with her daughters. Later she breaks her promise to Lila and writes about her. The story began with a son's call saying his mother had disappeared, leaving no traces of herself in the house. It ends in 2010, when a package arrives in the mail with the two childhood dolls, Tina and Nu.

Location precision: The novels name the city only; the pin marks the city centre.