The Art of Friendship

the long version

Trouble is brewing for best friends Kirsty, Clare, Janet and Patsy in the sleepy town of Ballyfergus, in the U.K. debut from the top Irish bestseller. Kirsty, Clare, Janet and Patsy have been the best of friends since they met at an evening art class over a decade ago. As strangers to the town of Ballyfergus, they formed an unbreakable bond as they tried to find their feet. Now, fifteen years down the line, their friendship is more like a sisterhood and they simply can't imagine life without each other. But when trouble strikes, cracks begin to form, and their friendship shows the strain as it is tested like never before.Temptation lurks as Kirsty falls for a man from Janet's past. Will this man be the forbidden fruit to drive a wedge between them once and for all? Patsy, struggling to cope with her beloved husband's redundancy, faces yet more heartache when she discovers her daughter is pregnant, and shock when she discovers who the father is...Janet, as she tries to deal with the heartache of an abusive past, finds she must come face-to-face with her inadequacies as a mother. But can her fragile self-esteem cope? And Clare, when she bravely squares up to her unsupportive husband and his over-bearing ex-wife, finds that the independence she grabs with both hands comes at a great price. As they face more in one year together than they have in the last fifteen, their sisterhood begins to fall apart. Can they survive the challenges life throws at them or will their shattered friendship crumble once and for all? The fourth of five children, Erin Kaye hails from Northern Ireland. Her five previous novels have featured on the Irish bestseller list, and The Art of Friendship marks her U.K. debut. She lives in Scotland with her husband and two children.