This was a fascinating book, I loved the glimpse into the specific time and place of 1980s Pakistan for the two privileged girls Maryam and Zahra. Their childhood has a direct impact on how they live their lives in London in the present day, and I liked the way each woman was shown as living by her own ethical code, each incomprehensible to the other - and how they both make decisions that they feel are fully justified, but others may be appalled by. I read it as a commentary on various Conservative politicians and their behaviour at the time of publishing, putting down other immigrants with the mentality of "I've earned what I achieved". A commentary on sexism, racism and class divides.

Best of Friends is a contemporary story about female friendship that gives an important commentary of how gender and class impact the Pakistani diaspora within the UK.

Zahra and Maryam grew up together in Pakistan and are now adult women in London, navigating the trauma of the past with their current London lives. This book gave a really poignant view of the different battles people carry along with them in life that are not always obvious. Wonderful strong characters.

Interesting coming of age story of two girls growing up in Karachi in the 1980s. They come from very different backgrounds but, just as the country embarks on a new era free of dictatorship, both their lives are thrown off course by one reckless decision.

The first part vividly captures the experience of being a teenager at that time, the prevailing customs and the dawning of the new era.

Decades later, we catch up with them both in London, where they have risen to impressive heights in their chosen professions, as we explore how the events shaped them.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to read this early. Review has been posted on Waterstones and Amazon.

Really interesting book - not what I expected but I was compelled by it. Not quite sure of some the author's meaning but the writing is of course incredible.

"Best of Friends" by Kamila Shamsie is a powerful exploration of friendship, loyalty, and the complexities of life choices against a backdrop of political upheaval. The novel centers on the intertwined lives of two childhood friends, Zahra and Cassie, as they navigate the challenges of growing up in Karachi and the divergent paths their lives take as adults.

Shamsie’s prose is both lyrical and incisive, capturing the richness of the characters' experiences and the depth of their emotional connections. The narrative alternates between their childhood and adulthood, revealing how their shared history and personal decisions shape their identities and their friendship.

The themes of friendship, betrayal, and the impact of sociopolitical contexts on personal lives are deftly woven throughout the story. As the characters face moral dilemmas and personal crises, readers are invited to reflect on the nature of loyalty and the weight of past choices. Shamsie skillfully addresses the complexities of navigating relationships in a world marked by conflict and uncertainty.

The pacing is well-structured, balancing moments of introspection with the tension of external circumstances that threaten to disrupt the characters’ lives. The rich cultural setting adds depth to the narrative, enhancing the emotional stakes and grounding the story in a real-world context.

Overall, "Best of Friends" is a thought-provoking and beautifully written novel that resonates with themes of love, loss, and the enduring bonds of friendship. Kamila Shamsie has crafted a compelling story that invites readers to reflect on the choices that define us, making it a must-read for fans of contemporary literary fiction.

I am a big fan of Kamila Shamsie so was very excited to read this. It is about friendship during challenging times.

Not my usual book, but I really enjoyed it. So much better than I expected. It was also my first Kamila Shamsie book and I love the writing style. It’s easy to read but really pulls you in to the story.

Following the incredible Home Fire, any Kamila Shamsie novel should be a promising read.

Best of Friends deals with female friendship over the course of 30 years. Despite their many differences Zahra and Maryam have been best friends since they were schoolgirls in Pakistan. Now successful women in London, they are finally forced to confront their history,

From the beginning, despite attending the same school, it is clear the girls are different, Maryam is heir to her family’s business, while Zahra faces a more precarious position, with a journalist father, albeit a sports journalist, who is placed in a difficult situation due to the politics of the time.

Fast forward and Maryam is a start-up investor while Zahra heads up a civil liberties organisation. Despite diverging paths, their friendship is transplanted with them from Karachi as they both end up in London.

Tensions between the women change as they grow - from money and class as teenagers, to ethics as 40-somethings in successful UK careers.

It’s wonderful to read about a female friendship so fully fleshed out as the one presented here. Inevitably it will draw comparison to Ferrante simply because so few other works deal with the topic.

As the girls go through puberty and grow into women, so does the precariousness of their relationship - the characters dance around the issues they face, fearful of breaking their bond. Shamsie also wonderfully captures how it feels to be 14 - still a girl but on the brink of womanhood, presumably compounded in Karachi where misogyny and mail violence against women and girls is so much more prevalent.

While not as accomplished as Home Fire, Best of Friends is still a beautifully written exploration of female friendship, class and race.

Kamila Shamsie's "Best of Friends" is a poignant exploration of friendship, loyalty, and the complexities of growing up. The novel follows the intertwined lives of Maryam and Zahra, two women who navigate the challenges of their bond from their youth in Karachi to their adult lives in London.

Shamsie deftly captures the nuances of their relationship, set against a backdrop of political and social change. Her characters are richly developed, and their journeys reflect the enduring and sometimes painful nature of deep friendships.

Overall, "Best of Friends" is a beautifully crafted and emotionally resonant novel that examines how time and circumstances test the ties that bind us. It's a compelling read for anyone interested in the intricacies of long-lasting friendships.

I really wanted to like this book, the description held such promise but it just didn't connect for me. Middle of the road.

It was fine. It kept me reading but I didn’t really engage with it or find myself loving the story or the characters. I wouldn’t recommend it to friends but I’m sure some people would like it.

I always love reading Kamila Shamsie books as she writes so well. This book is no exception to the high quality of writing and an insightful portrayal of female friendship.

This tells the story of Maryam and Zahra's friendship from schoolgirls in Kharachi to adults in London. Both highly successful but in completely different ways. A traumatic incident from their childhoods affects an event many years later and their friendship is tested. A really enjoyable recommended read.

You go on a journey through Maryam and Zahra's friendship, and although I preferred the narrative around their childhood than their adulthood, I found it a thought provoking and enjoyable read.

An enjoyable read, well written and entertaining. Hadn't read this author before but would consider reading again.

This was such an intriguing read and I loved the writing style!

The characters stood out for me, as did the storyline. It was a beautifully written book
!

A compelling but surprisingly bloodless portrayal of female friendship. Shamshie builds her story around her two protagonists skillfully, centring character as the heart of her story. Both are young women born into relative those differing levels of affluence. Zahra the daughter of a popular cricket commentator and head teacher, Maryam the heir apparent to a thriving family business., Both spend their younger years in the dictatorship of [name] and the requisite pressure to conform, both struggle with the misogyny of their time and environment, the "girlfear" (as Maryam calls it) of being powerless and preyed upon by men, both rejoice at the new potential ushered in by the election of Benazhir Bhutto and a democratic Pakistan. But an indiscretion leads to a fear-filled event that will colour their friendship and their adult lives as ex-pats in the UK.

Although presented as opposites Maryam and Zahra are more like two sides to the same coin. Maryam has a wealth and social status far beyond Zahra's but they both attend an elite school and are protected from the worst by their families. While Maryam is a ruthless business woman, ready to navigate grey moral areas in the name of power and profit Zahra is the famous, celebrity-befriended director of a high-profile civil right organisation. It's cleverly done, teasing out the differences and similarities despite their ostensibly very different values. But there is a lack of real peril and consequence that makes it somewhat unclear what Shamsie is trying to say, Zahra tries to maintain the moral high ground while Maryam is happy to abandon it in the name of expediency, but both continually escape from times of trial with very little meaningful consequence, regardless of their actions. Where consequences do hit with real significance, it is collateral damage, relegated to subplots and side characters that exist to highlight the different-not-so-different protagonists. The writing is wonderful and the characters exquisitely drawn but where the narrative falls down is the lack of growth, the way events play out for the adult women is almost identical to how they acted as teenagers and the ending gives no suggestion that they have a significant impact.

This was such an interesting read! I found myself so engrossed in the story, the characters had such incredible arcs, and I can't wait to follow this author's journey!

I found this a difficult novel to read. The opening setting is Pakistan, against a strict political regime was interesting, but I found the friendship between Maryam and Zahra quite unconvincing. The book is set over two time periods: childhood and their young womanhood. I could not connect with either character: not their decisions or lifestyles and was glad, to be honest, to get to the end of this book.

I found the references to cricket intriguing and wondered how much a young girl in Pakistan would have been allowed to participate in this sport in the 1980s. The style of narration is interesting as it is shared between Maryam and Zahra which means that you can get two contradictory versions of events which take place: I quite like this and found it quite a realistic approach to addressing some difficult issues.

Beautifully written, but it just didn't quite hit the mark for me. 3 and a half stars.