Best of Friends, the latest novel from Women’s Prize-winner Kamila Shamsie, explores complexities of power and ethics within an enduring female friendship. Focused on two central characters, Zahra and Maryam, the novel considers questions of integrity, loyalty, and platonic love.
In an interview, Shamsie spoke of her desire “to take one of those friendships that has existed forever, and then put a lot of pressure on it”. She does this in Best of Friends through a nuanced examination of women wielding power and feeling powerless in a politically and socially unjust world.
