Stephanie Jane reviewed Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie
A novel of two halves
4 stars
Best Of Friends is written as a novel in two halves, the first of which is set in 1980s Karachi when Maryam and Zahra are both fourteen years old. The second half jumps to present day London, some thirty years later, when the girls are now highly successful women and the balance of power within their friendship is noticeably different.
In common with many other reviewers I did feel I connected more strongly with the teenage girls. Karachi really springs to life from the pages and I could easily envisage the girls' homes and school, and the differences between Maryam's wealthy family and Zahra's more comfortably off situation. What interested me particularly about this period though were that there were already unspoken rifts between Zahra and Maryam, it was just that they weren't seen as problems in the same way as they would become. Maryam is already very aware of …
Best Of Friends is written as a novel in two halves, the first of which is set in 1980s Karachi when Maryam and Zahra are both fourteen years old. The second half jumps to present day London, some thirty years later, when the girls are now highly successful women and the balance of power within their friendship is noticeably different.
In common with many other reviewers I did feel I connected more strongly with the teenage girls. Karachi really springs to life from the pages and I could easily envisage the girls' homes and school, and the differences between Maryam's wealthy family and Zahra's more comfortably off situation. What interested me particularly about this period though were that there were already unspoken rifts between Zahra and Maryam, it was just that they weren't seen as problems in the same way as they would become. Maryam is already very aware of Zahra's cerebral life, an intellectualism that she doesn't share. Zahra herself, on the other hand, realises that Maryam will never experience events like the fear her family goes through when her father is threatened. Both girls keep parts of themselves separate, even while they appear inseparable to everyone else.
The Event alluded to in the synopsis is the pivot point upon which everything changes and I could feel as I read it that this was a significant moment, even though for much of the time it might not have become so. Zahra takes a lead whereas before she would have followed, but then Maryam alone must shoulder blame and accept the consequences for something that wasn't entirely her fault. It's a strange moment because, in hindsight, things aren't really that bad and could have been so much worse, but the dynamic between the girls is irrevocably changed and that leads us into their adult lives.
I did still enjoy the second half of Best Of Friends even though it does have such a different atmosphere that it took me a while to re-warm to the characters. I was surprised that Zahra and Maryam are indeed still close friends, but as I read more I could see how divergent their lives now really were. They might still be living in the same city as each other, but their actual lives are almost completely separate and, at times, their connection felt more like the result of habit than of genuinely wanting to spend time together. I didn't think the London narrative had such a strong storyline so I was occasionally uncertain about everything that was happening, but I thought Shamsie had a lot of good points to make.
While I wasn't as blown away by Best Of Friends as I had previously been by Home Fire, I did appreciate reading this novel. I could see layers of ideas that took mulling over both in the political storylines and the personal ones. I think Best Of Friends would probably benefit from at least a couple of readings in order to bring out everything that Shamsie has packed into this complex novel.