The best friend

Bella and Kate met when they were six and became best friends. As a teenager, Bella struggled with a difficult home life and feelings of inferiority, believing that Kate was prettier and more popular. Then Kate moved away and didn't tell Bella where she was going. Years later, Kate reappears in Bella's life; both women are now married. Kate is a successful actress and Bella is a flourishing artist. But as pleased as they are to be reunited, Bella feels slightly uneasy, an emotion that seems justified when a terrifying incident occurs during a party. The two become estranged again, but when Bella's husband disappears, Kate almost miraculously reappears to take care of Bella. Then terrible disaster strikes, and the two friends are torn apart in a way neither could have imagined. Bella puts Kate out of her mind, but decades later, when Kate needs her desperately, Bella is again there for her lifelong friend. This is a gripping story of a decades-long friendship that hints at obsession, dark secrets, and desperation and yet is also joyous, moving, and heart-breaking. A gripping, unsettling page-turner.

Set in England and spanning 76 years, this searing domestic noir from bestseller Fellowes (the Mitford Murders series) chronicles shy protagonist Bella's toxic relationship with narcissistic, charismatic Kate. The girls meet at age six and are inseparable until they're 17, when Kate kisses Bella's crush and then moves away without disclosing her new address. At 42, Kate--a married actor with an eight-year-old son--moves to Bella's neighborhood. Though Bella--a married painter with a nine-year-old daughter--still harbors hurt, resentment, and distrust, she's unable to resist the pull of Kate's orbit. The pair fall back into old patterns, with Kate manipulating Bella at every turn, but then Kate's actions kick off a devastating chain of events that changes the trajectory of both women's lives and causes ripple effects for decades. The tragic tale unfolds largely via revelatory snippets of conversation between the keenly drawn characters, lending a voyeuristic air. Fellowes paints an unflinching portrait of female friendship that should appeal to fans of Julie Mayhew and Leïla Slimani. Agent: Eugenie Furniss, Peters Fraser and Dunlop. (U.K.) (Sept.)