Best of Friends, by Kamila Shamsie

This is a book of two distinct parts. The first is set in Karachi in 1988, where 14-year-old best friends, Maryam and Zahra, attend an exclusive private school. It’s a heady time of self-discovery, with a growing awareness of bodies and sexuality, amid a turbulent political situation in Pakistan. The end of the Zia dictatorship and the advent of Benazir Bhutto makes the girls feel anything is possible, especially for those in their privileged positions. But a disturbing and frightening incident sparks big changes, especially for Maryam, and has repercussions that echo into the future. Thirty years later in London, Maryam finances tech start-ups while Zara is a human rights lawyer and civil liberties campaigner. Despite their fundamental differences they remain best friends, but this comes into question when a murky figure from their past enters the picture. Part one is hugely evocative of time and place and perfectly captures the awkward anticipation of adolescent girls, however privileged. Part two is less successful, the overweening privilege of expats less tolerable in adult women. It is really difficult to understand how the friendship can endure their major differences and the ending is plain puzzling.