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BFF?: The truth about female friendship

BFF?: The truth about female friendship

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

Why do some friendships last a lifetime, while others are only temporary?
How do you break up with a toxic friend?
How many best friends should we be aiming for?


BFF? will take a close look at society's most underappreciated relationship to interrogate what modern friendship means, how it can survive, why we need it and what we can do to get the most from it. Featuring interviews with brilliant women on what friendship means to them, Claire Cohen argues that, unlike romantic relationships, friendship is much harder to pin down and quantify - and shows how often our friendships are taken for granted.

An antidote to the idea that every woman must belong to a perfect girl gang, this book is a reassuring guide to help women answer for themselves, 'Have we lost it? Are we still friends? Is there too much to catch up on?'

'This is a moment to take stock. To think about who our friends really are, what that means to us, what they give us (and we give them) and what we have learnt about friendship. Because, when we get it right, there is nothing so important as having true friends. What a shame that it took a rampaging virus to make us appreciate the value of that.'

© Claire Cohen 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Reviews

  • BFF? ... inspired me to try to be braver about confronting niggling issues with friends in future.
    Helen Brown, The Telegraph

About the author

Claire Cohen

Claire Cohen is an award-winning journalist, named Women's Editor of the Year by the prestigious British Society of Magazine Editors for her agenda-setting articles and campaigning. She presents the Imposters podcast in which she interviews high-profile women, from Priyanka Chopra to Samantha Cameron, about how they turned self-doubt into success - and regularly appears as a commentator on the BBC and national radio, as well as being an experienced public speaker. In 2021, she was listed as one of Britain's Top 50 trailblazers for gender equality.

Claire has written for publications including the Telegraph, Grazia, and the Evening Standard - and is a proud founder member of the Ginsburg Women's Health Board. She lives in South London with her husband and their tiny cat. BFF? is her first book.
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