From the priceless comfort of a good support system to the chilling results of a friendship turned rivalry, here are some of our favourite books about female friendship.
The Friendship Test
This is a warm, page-turning, tear-jerker of a novel that will pluck at your heart strings more than once! Tamsin, Reagan, Sarah and Freddie are best of friends at college, and promise to remain so forever. But twenty years is a long time. When tragedy strikes, their friendship is put to the ultimate test, and they're forced to remember the joys of their early relationship in a time they need it most.
Faking Friends
If you're in the mood for a story with a darker edge, then look no further than Faking Friends . Amy thought she knew everything about her best friend Melissa, and about her fiancé Jack. However, after taking a surprise trip to London to see Jack, it becomes clear that a woman has been spending a lot of time in his flat, and that woman's belongings are horrifyingly familiar... Betrayed, heartbroken and enraged, Amy decides to take revenge on the friend that has ruined her life.
Pieces of Happiness
Adventurous Kat ups and leaves for Fiji as soon as she graduates, and many years later, her four friends all receive the same letter inviting them to join her on her cocoa farm. Life hasn't gone quite as expected for all of them, and so that's what they do - swap their current lives for azure waters and sun-drenched sands. Each woman has her own issues to resolve and secrets to keep, but this heart-warming story shows them the power of friendship and the ever-lasting benefits of laughter and a little sweet tooth. You'll smile from ear to ear with every page.
The Girls from Corona del Mar
This is a staggering novel about a fierce female friendship. Mia is hard-hearted, and Lorrie Ann is kind and beautiful. They're the best of friends, an odd pair with radically different lives. But when tragedy catapults Lorrie Ann down a different path, Mia comes to question whether there really is such a thing as a perfect friendship. It's a book about motherhood and loyalty and it's so wonderfully written you'll want to cradle it close to your heart.
The Secret Mothers' Club
One evening in late June a group of eight women gather for an old-school sleepover - their lives have all gone in wildly different directions, and the one unifying factor between them all is motherhood. You'll laugh and cringe as you recognise yourself and your friends in each woman as they talk about their struggle balancing life, work, family and their sanity. The Secret Mothers' Club is a brilliantly told and relatable story about the importance and strength of female friendships.
Spellbook of Lost and Found
If you like to read about magic and mystery, then the Spellbook of Lost and Found is the perfect book for you. Olive and her best friend Rose begin to inexplicably loose things - small at first, hairclips and jewellery - but as Rose begins to lose things that are much bigger and more important, their lives take a turn for the dark and bizarre. Haunting, intriguing and beautifully written, this story is at it's heart the coming-of-age tale of two teenage girls, woven together with the magic, mystery and a very dark secret...
Nina is not OK
Nina is most definitely not OK. Her drinking is getting out of control, and her family and friends are starting to notice. When she begins waking up in strange places with little memory of the night before, the people that care about her have to make some tough decisions - decisions that Nina doesn't thank them for. Nina is not OK is all about the endurance of friendships, and how important the relationships we maintain through both the good and the bad times in our lives are.
Everything I Know About Love
This is a wildly funny, incredibly truthful account of love in all its forms - especially the love of good friends who are there for you, no matter what, even at the end of a messy night. Dating columnist Dolly Alderdon runs through the trials and tribulations of early adulthood in all its grubby, heart-breaking, hopeful certainty. You'll clutch your sides with laughter, splutter at the bad dates, and come to realise that, in the end, loving yourself and your friends is all there is to your own happiness.
