2023-24. Best of Friends

Kamila Shamsie. 2022.

This is a remarkably complicated story about a childhood friendship between two driven women who end up being tremendously successful.  Set in Pakistan and London, the cultural layers added depth and novelty to what is otherwise a timeless tale of the tension and love found in a long-term friendship that endured a shared trauma.  There was a lot to love here as the author navigates so many concepts--class, immigration, ethics, ambition, and loyalty.  There are a lot of characters and a lot going on for a lot of the characters, sometimes leaving me with a sense that I missed something as the book flies through time. In retrospect, I think an extra few hundred pages would have been helpful to help build out some of the details needed to more easily understand the various characters.  I particularly liked how the various characters deal with the traumatic experience the girls experienced as early teens differently and, in particular, how many of them dealt with it by ignoring it completely and trying to live their lives as if it hadn't happened, all the while being obvious to the observer that its impact is playing out in a variety of ways.  The plotting of this book is better than the writing, but carries it nicely to make it well worth reading.

​Recommend.

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