A multi-layered gripping novel, The opening is set in 1988 Karachi, and centres around two friends - the differences in their backgrounds and how that impacts their choices and life. I enojyed how Shamsie captures this..
The remainder of the novel fast forwards to London, Zahra and Maryam ,now women, and still dealing with the aftermath of that night in their own way.

There's no doubt Best of Friends is well written, and cleverly juxtaposes an enduring childhood friendship against political commentary, with Zahar and Maryam having very opposing views.

An event that took place in Karachi when they were teenagers is to have a profound effect on both women, and when a person involved in that incident reappears, it will have far-reaching consequences for everyone.

I enjoyed this book, but I never became fully absorbed or invested in Maryam or Zahar's stories. I felt that we were kept at arm's length to a certain extent, and perhaps this was deliberate. Certainly a book to make you think and question, but not a book that captivated me as much as I would have liked.

Childhood friendships are special and so it is with Maryam and Zahra in Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie.
In 1988 when the Pakistan dictator dies a better future is envisaged for the fourteen year old Maryam and Zahra. Both girls are studying with the aim of getting to university although Maryam has a more relaxed attitude as whatever happens she will inherit a family business and a place in society.
In the second part of the story we are in London with Maryam and Zahra who have become important and influential. The story holds a mirror up to the country that Britain has become with politicians playing politics with peoples lives.
The story was excellent with both characters carefully drawn with their interconnected lives and the politics that intrudes on their lives carefully examined. I highly recommend this beautifully written novel.

The power of almost a lifelong friendship is explored in this book. Starting with children to teenager friendship then an adult friendship. I would have liked to not have such a time jump and had a bit more of a between story but it did show how events early in life have an affect on life. If you are looking for something different to read then this is it.

There's no doubt Shamsie is a great writer but as I was reading this, I expected to feel a lot more. Perhaps the story was too subtle for me (I usually like hard-hitting thrillers) but I think the theme covered are relevant and timely and something many people (especially women) can identify with. I included it as a book club pick for October in Karen's Book Group.

At the centre of this very readable novel lies a tale of heart-warming friendship with all its ups and downs. Zarah and Maryam’s is the kind of friendship where ‘whatever happened in the world you would always have this one person… who knew your every flaw… and who still, despite it all chose to stand with you.’

The two girls grew up together in Karachi, Pakistan, both quite privileged but from very different family backgrounds. We accompany them through their early teenage years and learn a lot about their fears, ambitions, preferences, anxieties and secrets, all set within the context of a post-partition Pakistan on the eve of Benazir’s rise to power. Then both of them get caught up in an event that will stay with them for the rest of their lives, but it also changes their present.

As a consequence, Maryam loses the prospect of inheriting her grandfather’s business and is shipped to London to study at a private school, Zarah stays behind but later secures a scholarship which allows her to follow in Maryam’s footsteps and studies at Cambridge University.

We meet the two of them again decades later, when both are highly successful figures in London’s public life: Maryam has become a top venture capitalist with links to some obscure and corrupt government circles, Zarah heads up the UK’s Centre of Civil Liberties. Given that Maryam’s professional network consists of the very people that Zarah’s organisation is trying to hold to account, the story of their continuing friendship is a story of closeness and tension, trust and suspicion, betrayal and forgiveness – all based on subtleties of subtexts they created throughout their lifetime of togetherness. What’s not to like?

Shamsie clearly has a bone to pick when it comes to the political administration 2019/20 - there is hardly a topic that escapes her scathing criticism in the second half of her book. Whilst this has my full sympathy, I do think that she runs the risk of superficiality by trying to address too many current issues, which takes away from a deeper understanding of a friendship that has weathered many a storm and is still there, in all its fragility.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story of friendship is a precious one but will always have twists and turns along the way. This book tells of a life long friendship which (as with all) had undercurrents that remain below the surface but are bubbling away and will explode at any time.
A great read.

Not the best book I ever read, but set against a period that I knew little or nothing about in Pakistan, this made for an interesting read.

i was intruiged by the premise of this and i liked the setting but the writing wasn't compelling and i wasn;t invested in the characters esp after they got older

Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie
💫💫💫

The best of friends here are Zahra Ali and Maryam Khan, both from the upper echelons of Karachi. Zahra is the daughter of a cricket journalist, and Maryam is the heiress to a luxury brand. Both attend an elite Karachi grammar school. This is their coming-of-age story in the late 80s.

We meet Zahra and Maryam at age 14, as they are figuring their way through the standard teenage stuff (changing bodies, boys, family expectations) and navigating the volatile confines of Karachi as they live under Pakistan’s ‘repellent dictator’.

Both are privileged but on immensely different levels. Zahra is concerned by her having an “uncertain social position”. She is introspective and intellectual, compared with outgoing and academically indifferent Maryam, who is fated to inherit the family fortune.

Zahra makes it to Cambridge and pursues a career as the UK’s top civil liberties lawyer. Maryam, who partly grows up in London, stays there to become a venture capitalist. The social media app she owns has a facial-tagging feature that threatens the human rights for which Zahra is fighting. Yet both continue to glide around in the same social circles as their friendship becomes all that more uneasy.

Right from the off, it's evident that this Pakistani-born novelist’s new book has much the same premise as Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet: a friendship charted from girlhood to middle age, taking in education, puberty, ideological conflicts, personal rivalries and secrets – all transcribed, however, against a totally different cultural backdrop. Tangled up with Maryam and Zahra’s relationship are questions of responsibility, justice, power and ethics.

Overall a thought-provoking read examining the unique bond forged between childhood friends, the allure of power and how easily this can be abused. Still, unfortunately, Shamsie fails to hold the bite and tension necessary.

Shamsie has a distinct ability to blend many angles of life from childhood to adulthood. She covers friendship and loyalty, politics and power, racism and sexualisation- all underpinned by 2 differing, strong, females. We see their perceptions on each topic, grow and alter over the 2 time frames, all the while maintaining their friendship. It begs to question how relationships can last, when ultimately people change. These women have different views on life: different backgrounds, different presents, and yet the past they shared glues them.
Aside from friendship, the political discussions are strong. The moral compass constantly swinging. Although for me, the heavy political lingo detracted from the story and slowed the pace, I value its importance.
These are topics that need to be shared and explored. Shamsie did so superbly.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I have read from this author, whilst i have heard good reports about the previous books, i'm afraid this one was not for me.

Unfortunately the promise of the opening half of the book wasn't sustained... unlike Home Fires I found the story slight and, although well written, less engaging than I was expecting.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Shamsie is a great writer and this book is no exception, exploring the nuances of female friendship and the complexities of class, politics and privilege that can come between even the greatest friends, as well as the tensions of misogyny and sexual harrassment that underpin most women's everyday existence. Maryam and Zahra are concisely drawn but engaging characters, and their positions at opposing ends of the political spectrum in the second half of the book makes for a narrative that feels like it's inevitably hurtling towards a foregone conclusion. But Shamsie doesn't do cliche, and her ending reflects that.

This was an intricately written novel that delved into the complexities of long-lasting friendship and examined the hierarchy of power. It left me thinking about the characters and their decisions long after I’d turned the final page. The book tried to tackled other social and political issues on the side, but at a certain point I felt that the inclusion of some felt forced, as if the author was ticking off a checklist.

Maryam and Zahra’s story was split up into two sections, the first following them as teenagers and the second when they’re adults with well-established careers. I thought the portrayal of teenage friendship was very realistic – a time when moments could swing suddenly between silly and serious. The girls were completely different, with different backgrounds, but their friendship still felt authentic. They each had their unique flaws and insecurities, as well as attributes which made them good friends. I personally preferred the section after the time jump as I liked seeing how their journeys panned out. I felt that both of the paths they took made sense for them.

The pivotal incident happened in the centre of the book. The scene crept up on me without me realising the potential severity of the situation. The event was described as a crossroads in Maryam and Zahra’s lives and friendship. It had a psychological impact on the two girls, exposing to them the full extent of the power imbalance between men and women.

A recurring question weaved into the novel asked whether principles or loyalty was more important in friendship. When the spectres from that doomed night reappeared in Maryam and Zahra’s lives, their reactions solidified their answer to that central debate. The stark difference between the way each handled the situation made me wonder how they had gone on for so long without dredging up their past. Even though their ultimate showdown was brutal – they each knew exactly how to make the other hurt – the ambiguous ending was still satisfying.

Overall, this was a masterfully written novel which delved into the unique bond forged between childhood friends and explored the allure and abuse of power. These elements made for a thought-provoking read.

Would I recommend?… Yes, the characters’ decisions may frustrate you but the journey will be worth it

Maryam and Zahra have been friends since childhood, so long that they can barely remember a time before they knew each other, despite their different backgrounds. Maryam was born into privilege; the granddaughter of a wealthy Karachi businessman, destined to take over the family firm one day. Her family is one with connections - to rich government insiders, to the 'fixer' who sorts out any little problems encountered in the business and factory; if something needs sorting, they know a way. Zahra's family, while comfortably wealthy, is not in the same league; her mother is a teacher, her father a TV cricket commentator, both opponents of Pakistan's dictator, General Zia.
At fourteen, in 1988 as Pakistan throws off its dictatorship, and elects Benazir Bhutto, they're inseparable. With a woman in charge of the country, anything suddenly seems possible.Then one night something happens that derails their futures.
The story picks up in London, in 2019, when both are now successful women. Maryam is a venture capitalist with an interest in hi tech and social media, happy to exploit government connections to further her business deals; Zahra, the head of a civil liberties organisation, fighting the government's immigration policies. Somehow the two are still firm friends, until an acquaintance from the old days in Karachi turns up, and their instinctive reactions prove how different their morals are.

While primarily a novel about the sort of friendship that lasts a lifetime, one that withstands disagreements and challenges, it's also about money and power, the advantages they offer in life, and how both can be used for good or bad.
In comparison to, say, Shamsie's previous novel, Home Fire, the story seems a slow burn; the emphasis being on character development rather than events, but it's enjoyable and well worth reading. In fact, it wasn't till the absolute last section, set during the first lockdown of 2020, that I felt all the pieces slotting into place.

This book is based around the friendship of two Pakistani girls, Maryam and Zahra, from two very different backgrounds and journey over several years and the impact of this on their friendship. It provides a real insight into what life in Pakistan is like which I really enjoyed reading about.

Though very well written the story was as slow read at times but the topic and characters kept me interested and I read it through to the end.

I'd read more from this author again,

In Best of Friends we meet 2 young girls, with very different backgrounds, Maryam and Zahra, despite their differences they bond and their friendship grows.
Fast forward several years and we meet the now grown up friends and despite everything they are still as close.
This is my 1st book by this author and I did enjoy it, although there were times I found it a little slow.
I will be looking out for more by this author as I feel there is a lot more to her

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

i liked the premise but there was something a bit frustrating and dramatic about this friendship...the latter half of the novel in particular annoyed me.

The story is basically about two girls born in Pakistan. Zahra is the daughter of a school teacher and a father is a cricket commentator. Their background is good. Mayram was born into money and luxury. Her family own and run a luxury leather business which she wants to take over when she is old enough from her grandfather who says he will pass the business to her as her dad, his son, does not seem inclined to do so and would rather sell it when his dad passes away. Mayram is also cricket mad and her grandfather has always encouraged this as it teaches leadership and being able to mix with others. Zahra is a good student and person whereas Mayram tends to push boundaries. Eventually Mayram pushes too far and her grandfather decided she needed to move away and she is sent to a boarding school. Zahra always wanted to leave Pakistan but Mayram was devastated as she intended to stay. The book goes into the political world, mentioning General Zia’s death and the celebrations with Bhutto being elected. Eventually the book moves on to London in 2019 when we find out what has happened to Zahra and Mayram and what is happening in their world. Zahra is head of a Civil Liberties group and Mayram is a tech guru after working as a venture capitalist. Their lives intertwine but I did feel that as they got older they may not have continued as friends as they were so diverse in their lives and theories. I found the book got more difficult to read but I did continue but became unsure of the characters who I liked as teenagers. The book seemed to me to bring into it any political happening over the last three years – why – all in one book