Heart-warming books about friendship

Sam and Sadie become inseparable friends who meet as children in a hospital in the late 80s. An initial love of Super Mario cements their relationship and leads them to create a video games company their younger selves could only have dreamed of. Although arguments and misunderstandings threaten their friendship, they always remain connected – but will betrayal and tragedy be too much? A brilliant exploration of the complexities of friendship and our quest to understand each other.

Eleanor Oliphant leads a carefully regimented life of solitude (and drinking) until an unexpected friendship with the cheerful IT guy Raymond begins to breakthrough her meticulously constructed walls. This poignant debut, supported by our Next Chapter Award, explores how human connection can help us heal from past trauma and discover that we're worthy of love and belonging.

In his first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, Kazuo Ishiguro explores the uncharted territory of AI to human relationships through the eyes of Klara, an Artificial Friend selected for companionship by the lonely (human) Josie.

Helena, Leonie, Niamh and Elle were childhood best friends and members of the same coven of witches – but due to trauma and the pressure of battle, their friendship has become strained. When a prophecy accuses one of their own, their friendships and relationships are brought back into focus, especially when there is a war to stop! Her Majesty’s Royal Coven is a page-turning magical novel, with friendship at its core.

The first instalment of The Neapolitan Novels series introduces us to two very different friends – the studious, obedient Elena and the fiery, rebellious Lila – who are united by a fierce bond and a shared desire to learn. Set against the rapidly changing backdrop of a working-class neighbourhood in 1950s Naples, My Brilliant Friend follows the girls from childhood to adolescence, as their friendship is tested by love, rivalry and class struggles.

Having spent the past sixty years living an unassuming life, married to, but not in love with, the kindly Arthur, it takes the prompting of Arthur's final note 'Find D' to encourage Mabel Beaumont to make her own to do list and embark on an quest to find her oldest friend. But from the search for an old friend, new friendships start to blossom: Julie, Mabel's new carer; Patty, a local dance instructor; Kirsty, the young mum next door; and sixteen-year-old Erin, all of whom may need Mabel's friendship as much as she needs theirs. The endearing tale of a joyful group of friends who you can't help but wish you could join for a cup of tea and a chat.

Renton, Spud, Sick Boy, Begbie and Tommy are not exactly the Famous Five, but this tale of the literal highs and many lows of a group of heroin addicts and petty criminals in late 1980s Edinburgh highlights many different forms of friendship and how it can endure through loves, losses and even betrayals across the years.