The Book of Women's Friendship

As Marilynne Robinson writes in her 1980 novel Housekeeping, “having a sister or friend is like sitting at night in a lighted house.” Bringing together work by more than 100 writers, the Book of Women’s Friendship explores the rich subject of friendship between women from every angle: its particular intensity and miraculous ease, its tendency to wax and wane, its role not only as a comfort and a privilege, but as vital to our health.

Editor Rachel Cooke excerpts novels, poems, diaries, letters, comics, and graphic novels about women’s friendship, placing work from a diverse array of artists in conversation across time and place. From Jane Austen to Edith Wharton and Virginia Woolf, from Dolly Alderton to Sarah Waters, and from Zadie Smith to Meg Wolitzer, The Book of Women’s Friendship celebrates and investigates friendship between women from first encounters to final goodbyes, from falling out to making up again.