When We Were Friends, Holly Bourne
When We Were Friends, Holly Bourne
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

When We Were Friends

Author: Holly Bourne

Narrator: Heather Long

Unabridged: 11 hr 45 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/27/2022


Synopsis

“Holly Bourne’s unique voice immediately invites you in and you can't look away. Gritty, funny and poignant.” —Beth O'Leary, author of The Flatshare

In this darkly funny novel, two women reunite after a decade of estrangement, only to confront the forces that destroyed their friendship in the first place.

From the day they first meet as teenagers, Fern and Jessica are best friends. Despite their differences, they are there for each other throughout everything, navigating the difficulties of growing up and fitting in. That is, until Jessica crosses a line that Fern can’t forgive.

But now, more than ten years later, Jessica has unexpectedly reappeared in Fern’s life.

A lot has changed for them both—but can their relationship be different now that they are older? Is it possible for either of them to rewrite the roles they've been cast in? Or will their shared history ultimately be doomed to repeat itself again?

Set between the present day and the early ’00s, When We Were Friends is a blisteringly funny and devastating novel: both a joyful celebration of female friendship and a razor-sharp look at the damage we can all cause to those we claim to love the most.

About Holly Bourne

Holly Bourne is a UK bestselling author and Ambassador for Women's Aid. Inspired by her work with young people, and her own experiences of everyday sexism, Holly is a passionate mental health advocate and proud feminist. She lives in London, but dreams of the day she has a garden, dog, chickens, and a bee hive. Pretending is her US debut.


Reviews

"There's no such thing as 'good men' and 'bad men.' They are the same men," she said. "They just treat different women differently based on how they view you." I told my friend while reading this book that I was thankful I hadn't discovered Holly Bourne as a teenager because I'm pretty sure I wou......more

Goodreads review by Thomas

Pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up liking this book! When We Were Friends follows Fern, who was best friends with Jessica when they were in high school. They shared their deepest and darkest secrets with one another, slept over at each other’s places and had fun silly times together, and ta......more

Goodreads review by Sophia

it honestly pains me to give this two stars. there were so many food things about the book. i really enjoyed the exploration of fern and jessica’s toxic friendship and the effect of what had happened during their teenage years. this is also one of the rare cases where dual-timeline works. we follow......more