The Neapolitan novels were referenced in The Washington Post article, “The Bechdel Test is 30 Years Old. It’s Time to Raise Our Expectations.” In relation to the Neapolitan novels and other books like them, the article says, “These stories save us from the tired spectacle of women fighting over some man or fighting to redeem him. And they show us just how much the world opens up when women stop talking about men, and start talking and thinking about themselves and each other.”