Women’s friendships can last through time and problems, through immaturity and growth. Four women struggle with their friendship for twenty years in Helen Warner’s intense novel, The Story of Our Lives.

Sophie, Amy, Emily and Melissa were best friends at university in London. Although Sophie moves out after one year to room with Steve, the four remain close. In 1997, at twenty-five, they reunite. Sophie’s still with Steve, although she’s not sure about their relationship. Amy announces she’s found the man of her dreams, and they’re getting married. Emily is now a single mother, raising Jack on her own. Melissa, hopping from bed to bed, and working in the music industry, drinks a little too much.

Year after year, the four women reunite. They see each other through marriages, births, miscarriages, failed romances, careers, and the tragic end to one marriage. They celebrate the growth of their children. Sophie flourishes when she moves from TV journalist to producer, and then teams up with a rising TV star. They deal with realistic problems such as addiction and postpartum depression. But, even in their forties, there’s one secret that could tear the group apart. Who is Jack’s father?

Warner’s novel is a well-developed, character-driven novel. All four women are easily identifiable, which is rare in women’s fiction that features a cast of four. They are realistic, flawed women struggling to live with the problems of relationships, marriage, and careers. It’s a story that covers twenty years, from their immaturity as twenty-five-year-olds to women who bear the scars of maturity.

Fans of novels featuring strong women and women’s relationships might want to try Helen Warner’s The Story of Our Lives.

Helen Warner’s website is www.helenwarner.net

The Story of Our Lives by Helen Warner. Graydon House. 2018. ISBN 9781525820830 (paperback), 400p.

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FTC Full Disclosure – I received a copy to review for a journal.