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The Private Side of Friendship
- Author
- Alexander McCall Smith
- Narrator
- James Rottger
- Publisher
- Recorded Books, Inc.
- Publish Date
- 7 July 2026
- Run Time
- 8 hours 46 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
Featured on BBC Radio 4's Take Four Books
Six friends. One city. The time of their lives.
It’s 1988, and on the verge of a reunion with friends she hasn’t seen since graduation, Julie recalls her halcyon student days of 1984 and the strange tumultuous time they lived through.
The friends—each from a very different background—are living in a gorgeous terraced flat in their Edinburgh idyll. As they navigate relationships and the unspoken rules of flat sharing, the troubled world all around them seems rather distant. But in the nearby hometown of one of the flatmates, the Miners' Strike is bringing about a huge political shift.
Despite their differences, can these six strangers help each other see the world from a different perspective? Is there such a thing as being too close? And what are the limits of love between friends?
"Pushing into new territory ... [a] typically thoughtful and entertaining novel."—THE SCOTSMAN
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Details
- Author
- Alexander McCall Smith
- Narrator
- James Rottger
- Duration
- 8 hours 46 minutes
- Release Date
- 7 July 2026
- ISBN
- 9798898856724
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Recorded Books, Inc.
- Genre
- Fiction: general and literary
Synopsis
Featured on BBC Radio 4's Take Four Books Six friends. One city. The time of their lives. It’s 1988, and on the verge of a reunion with friends she hasn’t seen since graduation, Julie recalls her halcyon student days of 1984 and the strange tumultuous time they lived through. The friends—each from a very different background—are living in a gorgeous terraced flat in their Edinburgh idyll. As they navigate relationships and the unspoken rules of flat sharing, the troubled world all around them seems rather distant. But in the nearby hometown of one of the flatmates, the Miners' Strike is bringing about a huge political shift. Despite their differences, can these six strangers help each other see the world from a different perspective? Is there such a thing as being too close? And what are the limits of love between friends? "Pushing into new territory ... [a] typically thoughtful and entertaining novel."—THE SCOTSMAN
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