Best of Friends, Kamila Shamsie
‘Shamsie’s deftly written novel explores complex and powerful themes of identity, feminism, class, and the challenges of living in this modern and ever-changing world.’
I read Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire earlier this year and was completely blown away by it. I felt totally bereft after reading those final few heart-rending pages. I can confirm that Shamsie’s latest novel Best of Friends is every bit as beautiful.
Maryam and Zahra have been best friends for their whole lives. The novel follows their friendship from their self-conscious teenage years growing up in Karachi in the 1980s to their adulthood in London as successful women. Here they walk on Primrose Hill most Sundays ‘talking endlessly about nothing, or about the same things over and over.’
Shamsie’s deftly written novel explores complex and powerful themes of identity, feminism, class, and the challenges of living in this modern and ever-changing world. She takes a sharp look at the notion of friendship and delves into the question of what it means to be childhood friends. Those friends who have seen us grow up, have seen us change, who have stood by us. Those friends that we didn’t choose but are always there. And what happens when those friendships are pushed to the limit.
It’s an utterly brilliant and enthralling read. Political, engaging, poignant and incredibly well written, it is a love story with two best friends at its centre with all the heartache, betrayal, tension, and intimacy that you will find in a conventional love story.
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