The Private Side of Friendship, 9781846977299
Hardcover
Edinburgh 1988: Friendship’s bonds tested by secrets, love, and changing times.
Fast Dispatch

The Private Side of Friendship

A Standalone Novel

$37.98

  • Hardcover

    272 pages

  • Release Date

    31 January 2026

Check Delivery Options

Summary

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…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781846977299
ISBN-10:1846977290
Author:Alexander McCall Smith
Publisher:Birlinn General
Imprint:Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited
Format:Hardcover
Number of Pages:272
Release Date:31 January 2026
Weight:392g
Dimensions:216mm x 135mm x 18mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

‘Pushing into new territory … [a] typically thoughtful and entertaining novel

* The Scotsman *

Warm, uplifting, and totally compelling, I couldn’t put it down. Perfect for curling up with a hot chocolate and a slice of cake on a chilly evening, it’s guaranteed to lift your mood

* Sixty Plus Surfers *

a sweet novel infused with a love of the Athens of the North’

* Saga Magazine *

One of the world’s best known authors, takes readers to a city he knows very well – as six young Edinburgh students embark on a flatshare and navigate new friendships against the backdrop of social unrest of the 1980s miners’ strikes’

* BBC Radio 4 Take 4 Books *

A gentle read with an insightful look at friendships established during what is for many people a formative stage of their lives’

* Portobello Book Blog *

About The Author

Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the highly successful No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold over twenty-five million copies. Since then he has devoted his time to the writing of fiction and has seen his various series of books translated into over forty-six languages and become bestsellers throughout the world. These include the 44 Scotland Street novels, first published as a serial novel in the Scotsman, the Isabel Dalhousie novels, the Von Igelfeld series and the Corduroy Mansions novels.

Returns

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.

Frequently Bought Together