Rich and Pretty

This irresistible debut novel, set in contemporary New York, provides a sharp, insightful look at how the relationship between two best friends changes when they are no longer coming of age but learning how to live adult lives

As close as sisters for 20 years, Sarah and Lauren have been together through high school and college, first jobs and first loves, the uncertainties of their 20s and the realities of their 30s. Sarah, the only child of a prominent intellectual and a socialite, works at a charity and is methodically planning her wedding. Lauren—beautiful, independent and unpredictable—is single and working in publishing, deflecting her parents’ worries and questions about her life and future by trying not to think about the subject herself.

Once, Sarah and Lauren were inseparable; for a long a time now, they’ve been drifting apart. Can two women who rarely see each other, selectively share secrets and lead different lives still call themselves best friends? Is it their abiding connection—or just force of habit—that keeps them together?

With style, biting humour and a keen sense of detail, Rumaan Alam deftly explores how the attachments we form in childhood shift as we adapt to our adult lives—and how the bonds of friendship endure, even when our paths diverge.