Best of the Best: BFFS in Literature
Tomorrow's the International Day of Friendship, y’all! Grab your best friend, your library card, and a patch of shade, because the best way to celebrate your fantastic pairing is to create a book club of two exploring the messy, beautiful, and honest connections between some of our favorite protagonists. Pairs well with ice cream and tissues.
The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan – Bex and Cilla
Longtime friends Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan are so insanely qualified to write about friendship it’s ridiculous. In their book, college best friends Bex and Cilla track into adulthood so beautifully, bringing with it the complications of major disagreements and tough love. These two women chose to be major players in each other’s lives and yet they love each other like sisters – supportive, devoted, and honest almost to a fault. You’ll want to immediately start rereading The Royal We as soon as you finish it.
Left: Illustration by Irena Frietas; Right: Illustration by Simini Blocker
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell – Cath and Reagan
Reagan and Cath start out barely acknowledging each other, shift to an almost mentor-mentee dynamic, and end the school year inseparable and unable to imagine living without the other. Rainbow Rowell’s exploration of the all-elbows awkwardness of college students is beautiful and embarrassing in all the best ways. Like sea salt and chocolate, Fangirl proves that opposites really do attract.
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara – Willem and Jude
While the argument could be made for Jude and JB and Willem and Malcolm as one big happy complicated package, it’s Willem and Jude who stand out to us. These two complete each other, with Willem offering Jude space and protection and a shoulder to cry on and ears to listen. And Jude is Jude – private and brilliant and more driven than any other person could be or should be. Their decades long friendship will warm your heart and scar your soul. A Little Life is best read with a friend – holding hands if you can manage it.
