A tender and fascinating look at women's friendship through fiction, diaries, and friends' letters. This exceptionally entertaining, often educational anthology is filled with all sorts of friendly—or hostile—anecdotes. Cooke has delved deeply and discovered treasures in every form of writing, offering a delightful book that highlights the great power and importance of true friendship.

Friendship, a timeless theme, has become a subject of intense discussion, both because of the internet—with the pitfalls of WhatsApp groups and the anxiety of ghosting—and the growing awareness that loneliness is increasing in our society. Friendship has become a topic of urgent inquiry for therapists, scientists, and sociologists. We are increasingly aware of its significance, not only as a comfort and privilege but also as critical to our health.

It is difficult to understand friendship: its particular intensity and wonderful ease, its tendency to change, its ability to inspire both pleasure and despair. This is the realm of novels and poems, diaries and letters, comics and graphic novels—and here the groundbreaking and diverse "Virago Book of Friendship" enters, bringing together works from more than 100 writers. From Jane Austen to Edith Wharton and Virginia Woolf, from Dolly Alderton to Sarah Waters and Meg Wolitzer, the book celebrates and explores women's friendship, from first encounters to final farewells, from ruptures to reconciliations.

Pages: 400, Year of Publication: 1119, Dimensions: 14x14cm