Galentine’s Day is right around the corner; the February 13 holiday coined by Leslie Knope on Parks & Recreation is all about celebrating lady friends. This got me thinking about my conversation with Nikki May where she shared her affection for “platonic love stories”—and this list of novels focused on female friendships was born.

These titles come from a variety of genres, but their common theme is the power of strong female friendships. Importantly, “strong” doesn’t at all mean the absence of conflict. Some of these books are largely sweet, it’s true, but in these pages we see relationships being stressed, strained, tested, and sometimes even broken—at least for a time. I find it incredibly satisfying to watch the fictional women in these pages struggle with realistic dilemmas, with support from and sometimes because of their female friends.

We also see these women having tons of fun with their friends in these pages, which is fun for the reader as well.

Whether or not you’re gathering with friends to celebrate Galentine’s Day, I hope you’ll enjoy these novels about female friendship. Please share your favorites in the comments.

12 novels about female friendship in honor of Galentine’s Day

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The Invisibles: A Novel

Author: Cecilia Galante

A wonderful exploration of four friends who lived in a group home together and formed a found family they dubbed The Invisibles. But when tragedy strikes after high school graduation, they go their separate ways ... until circumstances bring them back together fifteen years later. It's their chance at a do-over, but each must decide it’s worth the risk. This novel offers terrific insights on friendship, as well as how the secrets we keep from ourselves and others impact us and our relationships. More info →

Neanderthal Seeks Human

Author: Penny Reid

This smart contemporary romance series follows a group of seven friends in Chicago, whose relationships blossomed thanks to Knit Night. They rally around each other no matter what's going on and their relationships continue to be a priority even as they each fall in love. In this installment, Janie, a walking fact machine, runs into Quinn, a walking dreamboat, on her very worst day. What follows is a fun and funny romance between an unlikely couple. Penny Reid's characters have distinct personalities and quirks and it's delightful watching them grow individually and as a group as the series progresses. You'll wish you could join this friend group in real life! (Heads up: the first two books are closed door, but the series is considered open door after book 3.) More info →

Chirp

Beginner’s Luck

Author: Kate Clayborn

This is the first book in the Chance of a Lifetime trilogy, about three friends whose lives are changed after they go in together to buy what turns out to be a winning lottery ticket. This installment centers on Kit, a steady scientist who, because of her peripatetic childhood, wants to use her winnings to create a home for herself and develop roots in her community. So when Ben shows up in his role as a recruiter to entice her to leave it all behind and move to Texas... well, it's a disaster. But as they keep talking, their connection grows. I loved watching Ben and Kit work through their respective baggage over the course of the story, and the large cast of well-developed secondary characters give this series life. (Open door.) More info →

The Boyfriend Project

Author: Farrah Rochon

I devoured this fun and thoughtful romance. After witnessing many live-tweet moments on Twitter over the years, Farrah Rochon decided to turn live-tweet-gone-viral into a fabulous rom com premise. Samiah Brooks catches her three-timing boyfriend after seeing a live-tweet of him on a date. When the three "girlfriends" Samiah, London, and Taylor go viral, they meet up, become best friends, and vow to focus on their single selves by not dating for six months. With her newfound free time, Samiah pours herself into developing her passion project, a friendship app. Just as her dream app starts to take shape, she meets Daniel Collins, a charming coworker who might be perfect boyfriend material. Steamy, smart, and centered around friendship: London and Taylor get their own books in subsequent series installments. (Open door.) More info →

Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love

Author: Kim Fay

Set in the 1960s, the publisher aptly compares this epistolary novel to 84, Charing Cross Road. When L.A.-based Joan writes a fan letter to Camano Island, WA columnist Imogen to thank her for her column in a Pacific Northwest-based magazine, enclosing a packet of saffron and a recipe, a lasting friendship is born. The women become pen-friends, exchanging letters that move from the topic of food to books to the troubles (and occasional triumphs) of their personal lives. This just may be the gentle, feel-good novel you're looking for. More info →

Fellowship Point

Author: Alice Elliott Dark

This sprawling saga and 2022 MMD Summer Reading Guide selection featuring two octogenarian protagonists reads like a 19th century novel. Agnes Lee and Polly Wister have been friends their whole lives, growing up alongside each other in Philadelphia Quaker families and summering together in Maine. Agnes is beloved by the world as a bestselling children’s author, but not a living soul—including Polly—knows she also pens the popular and critically praised Franklin Square series. Polly knows Agnes sees her as a pushover, especially when it comes to her family, but Polly never lets on that she's wiser than her friend gives her credit for. When an enterprising (and nosy) young editor begins pestering Agnes to write a memoir, she sets in motion a chain of events that tests the women’s lifelong friendship, and threatens to expose the long-buried secrets each has carefully kept from the other. More info →

Chirp

Skin & Bones

Author: Renee Watson

Piecing Me Together author Watson wows with her adult debut. Things are finally going well for forty-year-old Lena: she has a good job, loving relationships with her parents and daughter, and a handsome fiancé she’s set to marry in just a few weeks. But his shocking confession the morning of her would-be wedding sends her reeling, and destabilizes the once-firm foundation she’s carefully built. Close female friendships and familial relationships feature prominently as Watson unpacks the beliefs surrounding beauty, love, fatness, and faith handed down from each generation to the next. Lyrical and kaleidoscopic, Watson compassionately explores what it means to love yourself, love your body, and love others, while showcasing Portland’s rich Black history.

More info →

Just for the Summer

Author: Abby Jimenez

Abby Jimenez has been an auto-read author for me for several books now. Here we meet Emma and her best friend Maddy, who move around working as travel nurses, never staying in the same place for more than three months. But then thanks to the internet, the nomadic Emma starts up a relationship with Justin, whose circumstances mean he can't leave Minneapolis. It's obvious to the reader this is going to end in heartbreak, but it's an Abby Jimenez novel, so surely they'll find a way through it ... right? I especially appreciated the strong sense of place: Abby is known for incorporating real places and businesses into her books, and I googled so many Minneapolis locations! If you want to read more about Maddy’s journey, she gets her own romance in the novella The Situationship. (Open door.) More info →

This Motherless Land

Author: Nikki May

I’m a sucker for a Jane Austen adaptation, but even so the Wahala author’s decolonial reimagining of Mansfield Park surpassed all my (high) expectations. May’s update spans two decades from the late 1970s to the late 1990s and moves between Lagos and the U.K. (with an important scene set at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics). This emotional tale is by turns humorous and gutting: I read it with my heart in my throat. There’s so much to appreciate here: a coming of age story, a scathing social critique, and a love story of sorts about a life-defining first cousin relationship. You need not have read Austen to enjoy this retelling, but a skim through the plot summary wouldn’t hurt. More info →

The Other Side of Now

Author: Paige Harbison

Cross The Holiday with Sliding Doors and you’ll get a sense of Harbison’s adult debut. After a disastrous thirtieth birthday party, Meg books a getaway to the quaint Irish village where she had once dreamed of moving. That’s when things get weird: everyone seems to know her already. She has an apartment and friends and a hot ex who’s none too pleased to see her. Most shocking of all: in this version of her life, her best friend, who died in a car accident just before college, is alive and well. So why isn’t Meg happy? Harbison asks important questions about choice, contentment, and what makes for a meaningful life. I found it utterly unputdownable. (This was our August 2025 selection for Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club .) More info →

The Wilderness

Author: Angela Flournoy

This coming-into-middle-age novel follows four Black women navigating the tumultuous years from their twenties to their forties in New York and L.A, from 2008 to 2027. Flournoy describes herself to be fascinated by group dynamics, and here she portrays the complex and ever-shifting friendships between these four “chosen sisters” as they make their way through the “wilderness”—the unclear path each woman must navigate as she finds her way in work, love, and life. Read this 2025 Fall Book Preview spotlight title for the expertly drawn character development and the nuanced exploration of female friendship, gender expectations, romantic entanglements, class concerns, caregiving, and the evolving dynamics of city life. More info →

Anne of Green Gables

Author: L.M. Montgomery

When Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of Prince Edward Island decide to adopt an orphaned boy to help them on their farm, their messenger mistakenly delivers a girl to Green Gables instead—a feisty 11-year-old redhead named Anne Shirley. She brings compassion, kindness, and beauty wherever she goes; she's a hopeless romantic, committed to her ideals, and guided by pure intentions—though that doesn't keep her from completely upending Marilla and Matthew's quiet life. When you think of Anne, you might be tempted to think of Gilbert Blythe and no one else. (I understand.) But this beloved classic introduced scores of girls to the idea of a "bosom friend" through Anne’s lifelong friendship with Diana Barry. Through the story, we learn about the gift of finding a kindred spirit and how to be a good friend across one’s lifespan. Countless girls dreamed of finding their own Diana—and perhaps were lucky enough to do so—after reading this series. More info →

What are your favorite novels about female friendship? Please share in the comments.

P.S. 10 giftable books to share with friends on Galentine’s Day, 9 nonfiction books that will make you a better friend, and 50 engrossing and adorable rom com books and movies for your Valentine’s weekend.

12 novels about female friendship in honor of Galentine’s Day

18 comments

Nikki says:

February 5, 2026 at 9:48 am

the Joy Luck Club! I know it’s an oldie, but man……that book still resonates with me!
Denise Halpin says:

February 5, 2026 at 9:53 am

Great list. I’ll add “Maggie: or, a man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar” by Katie Yee. And “We Ride Upon Sticks” by Quan Barry. Loved them both for the female friendship aspect of the books.
Hannah says:

February 5, 2026 at 9:53 am

Okay, this might sound crazy, but the first book I thought of (since you already have Anne of Green Gables on your list) was Gone With the Wind. Think what you want about Scarlett and her choices, Melanie was the friend she needed and just a fantastic female character all around. 🩷🩷
Carol says:

February 5, 2026 at 10:18 am

Your list presents an excellent variety. I was scrolling through thinking a few of the books I haven’t read sounded interesting, if perhaps “lighter” than my personal favorites, and I would add them to my library list. I continued scrolling and found myself letting out an audible gasp when Fellowship Point appeared. An all time favorite of mine that stuck to my soul. Just seeing the cover brought me so much joy — the depth and breath of Agnes and Polly’s friendship pulling me back to them and the actual love I felt for them. The very next book, Skin & Bones, was a very different kind of read, but also of such high quality. It had lightness and depth beautifully intertwined in Watson’s hands. The last three books in the list I have also pressed into the hands of friends and family. Seeing them here was very satisfying. I have the urge to share who I shared each with, and why, but suffice to say Bravo to you for such excellent choices!
Shirleen says:

February 5, 2026 at 11:53 am

Love & Saffron is one of my favorites. I am going to add In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden for a different and often overlooked world of women. Fellowship Point is going on my TBR list.
- Martha Long says:
  
  February 5, 2026 at 11:22 pm
  
  Oh, yes, to In This House of Brede! One of the joys of this book is the friendships formed by the nuns — both within the cloister and those. Who come to visit — like Penny and Dame Philippa!
Beth says:

February 5, 2026 at 12:52 pm

I love this roundup, but it’s not complete without The Lion Women of Tehran – the best book about friendship I’ve ever read.
- Anne says:
  
  February 5, 2026 at 12:54 pm
  
  That’s a wonderful addition!
- Meredith says:
  
  February 6, 2026 at 3:28 am
  
  Agreed!
Emily Schoenhals says:

February 5, 2026 at 1:09 pm

I love the friendships of the members of The Thursday Murder club books!
dburns says:

February 5, 2026 at 1:23 pm

I just finished The Book of Beginnings by Sally Page which I think fits. Very strong friendship theme (although one man is part of the friends group)
Felicia says:

February 5, 2026 at 1:40 pm

I have never forgotten Laila & Mariam from A thousand Splendid Suns. The horror they both experienced but they developed such a tight friendship, it was so haunting and beautiful
Anne says:

February 5, 2026 at 2:58 pm

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner is, among other things, a beautiful picture of female friendship in Sally and Charity. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah has a great female friendship between Elsa and her mother-in-law, and Elsa and her friend at the camp.
Stefanie Boger says:

February 5, 2026 at 10:17 pm

Superior Women by Alice Adams.
Jaime says:

February 6, 2026 at 10:40 am

Stopping in to add Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. Their flawed and beautiful friendship endures so much!
Roxane says:

February 6, 2026 at 9:32 pm

Elena Ferrante’s Neopolitan series – four novels about friendships in Naples. From childhood through middle age
Diane says:

February 6, 2026 at 11:53 pm

The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso tells the story of two octogenarians who start out as antagonistic neighbors but then are thrown together by circumstances. I loved the exploration of letting people into your life in one’s older years.
Also – I love Sarah MacLean’s historical romance series Hell’s Belles. Yes, they’re romance, but I’m really reading them for the got-your-back-no-matter-what friendships of the main quartet of women.
Suzy says:

February 9, 2026 at 4:53 pm

Wow, I didn’t realize how hard this category was until I tried to think of a book. Everything I think of is man-woman, mother-daughter, or sisters!
But what about this: real life friendship between Julia Child and Avis DeVoto? And they’ve just put out a new book of their letters to each other, called “As Always, Julia”!
I was also thinking of The Correspondent’s Sybil, who has been writing all her life to her best friend Rosalie.
And it was already mentioned, the two main characters in My Brilliant Friend are best friends.

Comments are closed.

12 novels about female friendship in honor of Galentine’s Day

18 comments

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summer reading starts May 16th