Chloë Ashby

A beautifully poised and riveting novel about the intricacies and entanglements of a group of friends holidaying in the south of France. I was gripped from the start

An intelligent, evocative, elegant novel simmering with tension and drama. Family Friends is a forensic examination of friendship and desire, and the perils of mixing the two

Delicious! Chloë’s best yet … So good on the way that time ties knots in relationships that trip us up further down the line. Chloë is so patient with her characters, even when they’re making terrible mistakes, whilst also keeping us hooked on her tangled plot

Sultry and very evocative. Ashby is discerning when writing children and teenagers, and there's a shrewdness to how the energy within those lively, underage time-bombs translates deftly to the tortured, uncertain adults around them. FAMILY FRIENDS contains the sort of characters you'd die to have as neighbours: chaotic, and always on the verge of their next mistake — perfect, in other words, to gossip with friends over

With FAMILY FRIENDS Ashby has created a piercing portrait of marriage, friendship and parenthood. It is a propulsive story with intrigue, secrecy and drama – I had a wonderful time reading it

Jenny Mustard, author of What a Time to Be Alive

An involving and psychologically acute portrait of marriage, friendship and loyalty tested to the limit. A sophisticated summer page-turner for Tessa Hadley fans

Family Friends is a novel of simmering tensions and sultry summer nights. Ashby writes so astutely about female friendship, marriage, motherhood and adolescence, and has created a quietly compelling novel dissecting the unspoken tensions that exist between loved ones

All the hallmarks of a perfect literary holiday read: an idyllic setting, eclectic cast of characters, and multiple unresolved tensions that keep unfurling … Such is Ashby’s skill that you won’t want to put it down (other than to reapply your suncream)

Atmospheric and seriously stylish, Family Friends is the perfect sultry summer read that will transport you to the simmering heat of the South of France. With these intriguing characters, Ashby continues to cement herself as a deft observer of the knots and tangles of human relationships

More complicated family entanglements, secrets and lies, set against the backdrop of a sultry summer holiday in the South of France. Chloë writes in a painterly manner - with precision and subtlety

Book(ish), Natasha Poliszczuk: Good Books for 2026

Family Friends yanked me out of a reading slump. Ashby has such a precise eye for the detail that exactly fits the scene. Filmic and absorbing, I enjoyed it very much

Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of The Sleep Watcher

With delicacy, sensitivity and atmospheric depth, Ashby writes the way I imagine an artist paints, with attention to the tiniest of details; it’s in this attention and astute observation that she so deftly captures what it means to love and to betray

Huma Qureshi, author of Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love

I read Family Friends in winter and was transported to a warm, languid summer in a French country house where two families gather yearly. In Chloë Ashby's expert hands, a hot summer is the perfect setting for mistakes to be made and for tensions to simmer until they reach a boiling point

Since they first met at university twenty years ago, Maggie and Will have spent the last two weeks of every summer in France with their close friends, Lydia and Roland. Both families have been looking forward to this cherished annual ritual – but this year things are different. 
 
Will has been hiding something from his wife, and is struggling to keep his deceit from seeping into the cracks in their marriage. Maggie is worried about their withdrawn teenage son. Roland is grappling with grief over the death of his first wife. Lydia is trying to ignore past chemistry with an old friend while learning to play second fiddle to a ghost. 
 
Into this conflicted fray steps Issy, Roland’s beguiling, irrepressible daughter from his first marriage. And as the August heat beats down, and the children find new ways to entertain themselves, it starts to feel as if the fault lines in these relationships might widen; that it might be harder to hide secrets here, under the bright sun. 
 
Family Friends is a deeply atmospheric, sophisticated and compelling novel about what happens when the ties of love and loyalty are stretched to breaking point, how relationships change (and don’t change) over time, and how we navigate the challenges thrown at us in every season of life.

Chloë Ashby

Praise for Family Friends

A beautifully poised and riveting novel about the intricacies and entanglements of a group of friends holidaying in the south of France. I was gripped from the start

An intelligent, evocative, elegant novel simmering with tension and drama. Family Friends is a forensic examination of friendship and desire, and the perils of mixing the two

Delicious! Chloë’s best yet … So good on the way that time ties knots in relationships that trip us up further down the line. Chloë is so patient with her characters, even when they’re making terrible mistakes, whil ...

A beautifully poised and riveting novel about the intricacies and entanglements of a group of friends holidaying in the south of France. I was gripped from the start

An intelligent, evocative, elegant novel simmering with tension and drama. Family Friends is a forensic examination of friendship and desire, and the perils of mixing the two

Delicious! Chloë’s best yet … So good on the way that time ties knots in relationships that trip us up further down the line. Chloë is so patient with her characters, even when they’re making terrible mistakes, whil ...

A beautifully poised and riveting novel about the intricacies and entanglements of a group of friends holidaying in the south of France. I was gripped from the start

An intelligent, evocative, elegant novel simmering with tension and drama. Family Friends is a forensic examination of friendship and desire, and the perils of mixing the two

Delicious! Chloë’s best yet … So good on the way that time ties knots in relationships that trip us up further down the line. Chloë is so patient with her characters, even when they’re making terrible mistakes, whil ...

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