Much great art is about romantic love, but friendship is at the heart of many classic novels, too. From Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, to Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee, some of the most memorable and moving relationships in literature are those between friends.
But what about more recent fiction? On this list we've gathered some more modern examples of literary friends – from flatmates sharing their dreams in a new city, to bonds formed in the throes of a tough childhood.
Plus, we’ve picked out some non-fiction too, including a journey of shared grief and a memoir about an unexpected kinship over dinner. Click the titles to reserve them today and get a new perspective on the myriad ways friendships can change our lives.
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Non-fiction:
1. Three Dads Walking: 300 Miles of Hope – Tim Owen, Mike Palmer, Andy Airey
In memory of their young daughters - Sophie, Beth and Emily - who took their own lives, three dads set out on a 300 mile journey across Britain, from the windswept Lakeland fells and Peak District dales to the open plains of the Eastern fens.
Putting one foot in front of the other, they captured the hearts of the nation; laughing together, crying together, fighting to be heard.
This book, built around personal diary entries, grew from a place of great grief and loss, but is also about the power of speaking out, of friendship and hope (and blisters). The 3 Dads bear a heavy load, but they walk on for us all, finding light in the wild after the darkest times.
2. The Power of Friendship – Frida Bern, Daneil Ek, Par Flodin
The Power of Friendship is a practical and accessible handbook that draws on more than thirty years of social science research and insights from modern psychology on how to create, maintain and deepen relationships.
Decades of research show that strong relationships are at the very top of the list of what makes us happy and what helps us live long and healthy lives. Yet, we receive relatively little guidance when it comes to developing and nurturing our friendships as adults.
What makes some friendships last while others fade away? How can we deepen our connection with an acquaintance or someone we have known for years? How can we manage conflicts so that our friendships are not weakened but rather strengthened by them? When can and should we break up with a friend? All of these and more questions are answered and illuminated.
3. Friendaholic: Confessions of a Friendship Addict – Elizabeth Day
Growing up, Elizabeth wanted to make everyone like her. Lacking friends at school, she grew up to believe that quantity equalled quality. Having lots of friends meant you were loved, popular and safe. She was determined to become a Good Friend. And, in many ways, she did. But in adulthood she slowly realised that it was often to the detriment of her own boundaries and mental health.
Then, when a global pandemic hit in 2020, she was one of many who were forced to reassess what friendship really meant to them – with the crisis came a dawning realisation: her truest friends were not always the ones she had been spending most time with. Why was this? Could she rebalance it? Was there such thing as…too many friends? And was she really the friend she thought she was?
Friendaholic unpacks the significance and evolution of friendship. From exploring her own personal friendships and the distinct importance of each of them in her life, to the unique and powerful insights of others across the globe, Elizabeth asks why there isn’t yet a language that can express its crucial influence on our world.
4. Dinner with Edward: A Story of Unexpected Friendship – Isabel Vincent
With its delicious food, warm jazz, and stunning views of Manhattan, Edward's home was a much-needed refuge for reporter Isabel Vincent. Her recently widowed ninety-something neighbour would prepare weekly meals for Isabel, dinners she would never prepare for herself - fresh oysters, juicy steak, sugar-dusted apple galette. But over long, dark evenings where they both grieved for their very different lost marriages, Isabel realised she was being offered a gift greater than good wine and perfect lamb chops.
As they progressed from meals à deux to full dinner parties with an eclectic New York crowd, she saw that Edward was showing her how to rediscover the joy of life and turn hers around: how even a shared bowl of chowder could transform loneliness and anxiety into friendship, freedom, and a pure, simple pleasure Isabel had not known she could find again.
Both moving and uplifting, Dinner with Edward raises a glass to the power of simple pleasures and the surprising connections formed in times of hardship.
5. Two’s Company: Fast & Fresh Recipes for Couples, Friends & Roommates – Orlando Murrin
Two’s Company is a book with a positive message that cooking for two is exciting, fun and worthwhile. More than that – free from the demands of family or guests, liberated from a strict timetable, you can follow your mood, whether you fancy something homey, a fake-away or a creative culinary adventure.
More than 65 original and delicious recipes, written with panache and authority and offering both practical advice and inspiration for anyone cooking at home for two people.
Novels:
6. Hello Beautiful – Ann Napolitano
Best friends and sisters, the four Padavano girls bring loving chaos to their close-knit Italian American neighbourhood. William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So, when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano, it's as if the world has lit up around him.
With Julia comes her family: Sylvie, the family's dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all. But when darkness from William's past begins to block the light of his future, it is Sylvie, not Julia, who becomes his closest confidante. The result is a catastrophic rift that leaves the family inhabiting two sides of a fault line.
Can they find their way back to each other? Can love make a broken family whole?
7. The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell – Robert Dugoni
Sam Hill always saw the world through different eyes. Born with red pupils, he was called “Devil Boy” or Sam “Hell” by his classmates; “God’s will” is what his mother called his ocular albinism. Her words were of little comfort, but Sam persevered, buoyed by his mother’s devout faith, his father’s practical wisdom, and his two other misfit friends.
Sam believed it was God who sent Ernie Cantwell, the only African American kid in his class, to be the friend he so desperately needed. And that it was God’s idea for Mickie Kennedy to storm into Our Lady of Mercy like a tornado, uprooting every rule Sam had been taught about boys and girls.
Forty years later, Sam, a small-town eye doctor, is no longer certain anything was by design—especially not the tragedy that caused him to turn his back on his friends, his hometown, and the life he’d always known. Running from the pain, eyes closed, served little purpose. Now, as he looks back on his life, Sam embarks on a journey that will take him halfway around the world. This time, his eyes are wide open—bringing into clear view what changed him, defined him, and made him so afraid, until he can finally see what truly matters.
8. Swing Time – Zadie Smith
On an unremarkable Saturday in 1982, two girls meet. Two brown girls who both dream of being dancers - but only one, Tracey, has talent; a talent so undeniable she is taught to rely on it as a promise, as a way out. The other is taught she has ideas: about rhythm and time, about black bodies and black music, what constitutes a tribe, or makes a person truly free. She is taught her future is her own to decide.
Theirs a close but complicated childhood friendship that halts abruptly in their early twenties as their two paths diverge and their lives dance out of each other's view, but never out of their shadow.
Dazzlingly energetic and deeply human, Swing Time is a story about friendship and music and stubborn roots, about how we are shaped by these things and how we can survive them. Moving from north-west London to West Africa, it is a story about the turn and dip and sway of lives in endless, perpetual motion; an exuberant dance to the music of time.
9. The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes – Ruth Hogan
Masha's life has stopped. Once a spirited, independent woman with a rebellious streak, her life has been forever changed by a tragic event twelve years ago. Now, unable to let go of her grief, she finds solace in the silent company of the souls of her local Victorian cemetery and at the town's lido, where she seeks refuge underwater - safe from the noise and the pain.
But then a chance encounter introduces her to two extraordinary women - the fabulous and wise Kitty Muriel, a convent girl-turned-magician's wife-turned-seventy-something-roller-disco-fanatic, and the mysterious Sally Red Shoes, a bag lady with a prodigious voice – opening up a new world of possibilities, and the chance to start living again. But just as Masha dares to imagine the future, the past comes roaring back…
10. A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara
When four graduates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity.
Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he'll not only be unable to overcome - but that will define his life forever.
11. Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin
Sam and Sadie meet in a hospital in 1987. Playing together brings joy, escape, fierce competition - and a special friendship. Then, all too soon, that time is over and they must return to their normal lives.
When the pair spot each other eight years later in a crowded train station the spark is immediate, and together they get to work on what they love - creating virtual worlds to delight, challenge and immerse. Their collaborations make them global superstars but along with success, money and fame come betrayal and tragedy.
