A sharp, emotional contemporary women’s literary novel about female friendship, mid-life reinvention and second chances. New for 2026.

‘A truly great millennial novel’ New York Times Book Review newsletter

‘A big, beautiful novel about what friendship means as we get older’ LitHub

‘A bracingly honest and exhilarating novel' Kimberly King Parsons, author of We Were the Universe

‘A big-hearted and daring novel from one of our finest creative and critical minds’ Jonathan Escoffery, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of If I Survive You

‘A powerfully intimate portrait of female friendship’ Kimberly King Parsons, author of We Were the Universe

‘White Lotus with more sincerity and heart’Los Angeles Times

*****

As undergrads, Gregg, Reba, Hillary, Bella, and Carson formed the kind of rare bond that university brochures promise – friendship that lasts a lifetime. Two decades later, the women are spread across the country but remain firmly linked through their ever-active group chat. They’ve made it through COVID and childbirth and midcareer challenges, but no one can anticipate what’s coming next.

The five women converge on Palm Springs for a long overdue reunion: Gregg, a progressive Texas legislator, is facing a huge decision about her political future. Reba is deep in IVF treatments while caring for her aging parents and navigating a San Francisco she hardly recognizes. Hillary’s medical career is going great – but at home, her husband’s struggles with addiction have derailed their life. In New York City, Bella faces the biggest case in her career as a litigator while her home life crumbles around her, and across the river in Brooklyn, Carson is working on a new novel as well as forging a possible relationship with the father she’s never met.

Twenty years into their shared friendship, the stakes are higher than ever. With wit, empathy and heart, Clutch asks how much we can give to our friends and our families, and what space we can save for ourselves.

*****