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Best friends Zahra and Myriam grow up in Pakistan and move to the UK where they both have good careers and are still bff‘s. The differences among them are being enlarged in England, where so many Pakistani have found refuge. The storyline about immigration and privileges is an interesting one, the one about the friendships somehow fell a bit short.

📸 Tokyo, Japan

My recent Maggie O‘Farrell read was a tough one to follow but this did the trick nicely. We meet best friends Zahra and Maryam at school in Karachi, then jump forward 30 years and rejoin them as they forge their high-profile careers in London. Essentially a lovely study of a lifelong female friendship against the backdrop of politics, I enjoyed it.

I enjoyed this one- there‘s a bit of a slump in the middle where I thought is that it? But then there is a twist and the story reignites. Can friendship really bypass our values and principles?
Not my favourite of hers, but definitely a good read.

Very enjoyable read!! 8/10

While I enjoyed Home Fires, I found the plot of Best of Friends confusing.

I enjoyed reading this very well written book. I‘ve always been a bit envious of people who still have close friends from their childhood. I heard an interview with Kamila in which she said her first draft was very different. She had tried to write about the years of the friendship that are not covered in the final book. She said it just didn‘t work. A lovely story of a long friendship between two very different girls/women.

I ❤️ Home Fire. It was a 5 🌟 read for me. Best of Friends is well written and at times painful to read, however it did not hit me like Home Fire. 3 🌟
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#GoodNotGreat
A story of childhood friends who are embedded in each other‘s lives due to their early deepest years of adolescence closeness. The book opens in 1988 then fast forwards to 2019. A shared encounter from their HS days comes back into play testing their lifelong friendship. Book could have been wonderful but I just didn‘t care enough for these two characters.
Curious to see what you‘ll think @BarbaraBB

Once again my devices fail me - apparently I have more battery life in me than an iPad from 2019. I think it‘s time to trade in - Anyhow, Thank GD for books. They never need charging 🧡 Im loving the 80‘s nostalgia #LycraAndNeonForever #OnceAnEightiesGirlAlwaysAnEightiesGirl 💘

Two girls grow up together in Pakistan, developing a closeness that isn‘t shaken by an event that disrupts their lives. We then time jump and see them as adults decades later in London, where their differences are more pronounced but the friendship remains. Really solid book, though I wanted a little more from the ending.

My best #BookspinBingo board this year! Five bingos!

Favorite book is the tagged one. It‘s about two friends growing up in Pakistan in the 1980s and how moving to London as adults fundamentally changes them in some ways but leaves core aspects of their personalities intact and the consequences of crossing one. 5⭐️!!

The story opens in Karachi 1988 and two girls Zahra and Maryam are best friends.
But at this point Karachi is in turmoil and on the brink of great change.
The dictatorship is falling and a female leader is elected.
But one night of fun and frolics for the girls changes their lives.
The girls go driving out with some boys which is cultural taboo.
In present day London and both girls are now grown and driven women.
But that night still echoes...

Maryam and Zahra are best friends in 1980s Pakistan, despite their different backgrounds. This part of the book is set against the background of Benazir Bhutto being elected, but a party held to celebrate this will set in motion events that will reverberate throughout their lives, as far as three decades later when they both live in London.

I loved this - highly recommended!

Released in UK 27th Sept #netgalley

A fall must-read! Zahra and Maryam are compelling characters, and Shamsie wove their story with depth and subtle darkness that comes crashing to a memorable end. 5⭐️

Z and M are best friends in 1980s Karachi. At 14, they see the country change when Bhutto is elected, but one night they are starkly reminded how little power girls have. The story picks up later in London where they are still best friends but have grown into very different women.

I cannot believe all this #bookmail came in one day! Special thanks to @RiverheadBooks for sending What If 2 and Best of Friends! (I know you loved Home Fire @BarbaraBB so I‘m excited for Friends. 🤩)

The rest is my long-delayed second #botm box and my massively too large Book Outlet splurge. 😂

However, this haul finally got me to clean out several shelves for a much needed trip to sell at the used bookstore. 👍🏻