Best of Friends

‘A profound novel about friendship. I loved it to pieces’ MADELINE MILLER ** SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS 2023 ** PICKED AS ONE OF THE SUNDAY TIMES' BEST PAPERBACKS OF 2023** CHOSEN AS A BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR BY THE GUARDIAN , BBC , OBSERVER , DAILY MAIL, IRISH TIMES AND FINANCIAL TIMES ** Sometimes it was as though the forty years of friendship between them was just a lesson in the unknowability of other people… In 1988, as Pakistan is on the brink of political overhaul, two fourteen year-old girls are on the brink of womanhood. Their Arcadian days of secrets, laughter and a shared love for George Michael are brought crashing down when a snap decision at a party changes their lives forever. Years later in London, Zahra and Maryam are women with money, power and influence. They are both, however, still haunted by that night all those years ago. Insightful and unsettling, Best of Friends employs sumptuous prose to unpick the seams of a forty-year friendship and illuminate the ripple-like effects of power and history. 'An epic story that explores the ties of childhood friendship, the possibility of escape, the way the political world intrudes into the personal, all through the lens of two sharply drawn protagonists' Observer

‘A profound novel about friendship. I loved it to pieces’ MADELINE MILLER ** SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS 2023 ** PICKED AS ONE OF THE SUNDAY TIMES' BEST PAPERBACKS OF 2023** CHOSEN AS A BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR BY THE GUARDIAN , BBC , OBSERVER , DAILY MAIL, IRISH TIMES AND FINANCIAL TIMES ** Sometimes it was as though the forty years of friendship between them was just a lesson in the unknowability of other people… In 1988, as Pakistan is on the brink of political overhaul, two fourteen year-old girls are on the brink of womanhood. Their Arcadian days of secrets, laughter and a shared love for George Michael are brought crashing down when a snap decision at a party changes their lives forever. Years later in London, Zahra and Maryam are women with money, power and influence. They are both, however, still haunted by that night all those years ago. Insightful and unsettling, Best of Friends employs sumptuous prose to unpick the seams of a forty-year friendship and illuminate the ripple-like effects of power and history. 'An epic story that explores the ties of childhood friendship, the possibility of escape, the way the political world intrudes into the personal, all through the lens of two sharply drawn protagonists' Observer

'A profound novel about friendship. I loved it to pieces' MADELINE MILLER ** SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS 2023 ** CHOSEN AS A BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR BY THE GUARDIAN, BBC, OBSERVER, DAILY MAIL, IRISH TIMES AND FINANCIAL TIMES ** Maryam and Zahra. In 1988 Karachi, two fourteen-year-old girls are a decade into their friendship, sharing in-jokes, secrets and a love for George Michael. As Pakistan's dictatorship falls and a woman comes to power, the world suddenly seems full of possibilities. Elated by the change in the air, they make a snap decision at a party. That night, everything goes wrong, and the two girls are powerless to change the outcome. Zahra and Maryam. In present-day London, two influential women remain bound together by loyalties, disloyalties, and the memory of that night, which echoes through the present in unexpected ways. Now both have power; and both have very different ideas of how to wield it... Their friendship has always felt unbreakable; can it be undone by one decision? 'An epic story that explores the ties of childhood friendship, the possibility of escape, the way the political world intrudes into the personal, all through the lens of two sharply drawn protagonists' Observer

'A profound novel about friendship. I loved it to pieces' MADELINE MILLER ** SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS 2023 ** CHOSEN AS A BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR BY THE GUARDIAN, BBC, OBSERVER, DAILY MAIL, IRISH TIMES AND FINANCIAL TIMES ** Maryam and Zahra. In 1988 Karachi, two fourteen-year-old girls are a decade into their friendship, sharing in-jokes, secrets and a love for George Michael. As Pakistan's dictatorship falls and a woman comes to power, the world suddenly seems full of possibilities. Elated by the change in the air, they make a snap decision at a party. That night, everything goes wrong, and the two girls are powerless to change the outcome. Zahra and Maryam. In present-day London, two influential women remain bound together by loyalties, disloyalties, and the memory of that night, which echoes through the present in unexpected ways. Now both have power; and both have very different ideas of how to wield it... Their friendship has always felt unbreakable; can it be undone by one decision? 'An epic story that explores the ties of childhood friendship, the possibility of escape, the way the political world intrudes into the personal, all through the lens of two sharply drawn protagonists' Observer