Once lovers, now friends, university students Frances and Bobbi share open mic nights in the summer, performing poetry around Dublin. Circulating around the city’s literary scene, married couple Melissa and Nick befriend the two young women. The story unravels into a complex mélange of relationships and friendships, keeping readers enthralled through the first part of the novel, with birthday celebrations, dinner parties and vacations abroad.

In the second part of the novel, the mood shifts in demonstrating the highs and lows of your early twenties. Through the protagonist, Frances, the author honestly depicts modern struggles and progress in stepping outside yet involved in family concerns, perceptiveness in health, while also complicating matters in acting on desire. Rooney captures blurring constructions of relationships and friendships, through beautiful imagery in her debut book. Conversations with Friends read to be witty, at times nerve wrecking and full of intellect.

Source: On a recent trip to London, bookshops across the city wildly promoted Rooney’s work

Recommend to Whom: Lovers of the television series, HBO’s Girls and Netflix’s Easy