Great Literary Friendships

Twenty-Four Friendships That Changed Everything — On the Page and Off It

You know the ones. The friendships that make you ugly-cry, furiously annotate, and immediately text your own best friend at 11 pm. Jane Eyre and Helen Burns. Holmes and Watson. Bridget Jones and her chaotic, wonderful pals.

Great Literary Friendships dives deep into 24 of fiction's most iconic bonds — from Shakespeare to Elena Ferrante — unpacking how these relationships shape characters, drive plots, spark romance, and occasionally deliver the most devastating betrayals in literary history.

Details

• Explores 24 iconic literary friendships
• Character studies and publication history for each friendship
• Authors spanning 400 years — from Jane Austen and Dickens to Steinbeck, Evelyn Waugh, and Alice Walker
• Includes beloved duos who outgrew their pages — Don Quixote & Sancho Panza, Holmes & Watson, Bridget Jones and pals
  
• Also by Janet Phillips: Great Literary Sisters
• Hardback, published 2022

Perfect For

• The book lover who has feelings about fictional friendships
• A gift for the friend who probably has a very well-annotated copy of at least one of these
• Anyone who has ever texted their best friend at 11 pm about a book