When We Were Friends — Holly Bourne

A darkly funny story about two women who reunite after a decade of estrangement, only to confront the forces that destroyed their friendship in the first place.

The world was a very different place in the early aughts, when Fern and Jessica became best friends. It was a compliment to get groped in a club, normal to have your arse rated out of ten in school and unremarkable that a song about a man murdering his pregnant wife was the number one Christmas hit. Not that the two girls noticed any of that. They were too busy growing up, trying to find themselves, and experimenting with love, alcohol and drugs amid their near-obsessive friendship. Until one day something happened to make Fern cut Jessica out of her life completely.

Fifteen years later, the pair is reunited in a very changed world. Fern's a successful mental health columnist, waiting for her perfect boyfriend to finally propose. Whereas Jessica is a single mum who has done very well out of her divorce. Tentatively, they try to rebuild their friendship.

Soon, though, old and unhealthy patterns start to reemerge. Have things really gotten better -- for these two best friends, or for women in general? Set within two timelines, When We Were Friends is an unflinching celebration of female friendship and how much it has to overcome.