My best friend's girl (by Dorothy Koomson)

(Amazon UK link)

I’m very much enjoying rereading my collection of novels by Dorothy Koomson. Since I only previously read them once, and most of them fifteen or more years ago, they feel like new books. But there’s the added bonus that I know I previously liked them. 

I’ve just finished ‘My best friend’s girl’, which I first read in December 2011. As ever, I had entirely forgotten the people and the storyline, but I soon found myself hooked. The main character, who narrates the story, is Kamryn. She lives in Leeds and is single; we soon learn that this is due to her breaking up with her fiancé Nate less than two months before their wedding, due to his being unfaithful.

Kamryn has also totally lost touch with her closest friend Adele. She’s blocked her online, and refuses to read any of the letters she’s sent. But on her birthday, opening a large number of cards, she realises that one of them is from Adele, with an urgent note inside: Adele is very sick, and wants Kamryn to visit her. 

They were once as close as siblings, and although Kamryn wants to throw this card away, she decides she’ll visit the hospital just once. She’s shocked at what she sees, and even more at the unusual request Adele makes, to look after her five-year-old daughter. She’s going to refuse, but she was once very fond of Tegan, so she agrees to go and see her; she’s staying with Adele’s father and stepmother. Then she is so horrified at what she learns that she agrees to Adele’s request, while aware that her life will have to change dramatically…

Most of the story then revolves around Tegan and Kamryn learning to live together, to communicate their needs and wants, and developing bonds while also grieving. Kamryn is quite a closed person who rarely expresses any emotion, and she had never wanted children. But Tegan gets under her skin, partly because she’s so vulnerable, partly because she’s very cute.

I thought Tegan’s character was delightful - she’s bright, and trusting, and her face and posture reflect her feelings. She starts out terrified, and it takes a while to learn to trust her new guardian. 

Meanwhile Kamryn has some stresses at work: her boss has left, and she had expected to be promoted. But she’s had compassionate leave, and she can’t commit as much as she did previously, so a new man has been promoted. She and Luke dislike each other on sight, and that would probably have continued but for Tegan. For Tegan finds Luke amusing, and he becomes a kind of father-figure to her. 

It’s a story about different kinds of family, something Dorothy Koomson manages in others of her books, in various ways. I love the way she stresses the importance of affection, and that sometimes blood is not ‘thicker than water’. Kamryn has a loving family who are delighted to welcome Tegan to the fold, but Adele’s father wants nothing more to do with her.

I also very much liked the way that Luke’s character grows and develops, in part due to his affection for Tegan. Perhaps it was inevitable that two people who start off at odds with each other will become close, and romantically involved, but it’s not at all obvious that this is going to happen. And then Nate comes back into the picture too..

It’s not a fast-moving story, and while there’s a dramatic event towards the end, there isn’t a whole lot of plot as such. It’s character-driven, and done extremely well. I liked all the main characters, particularly Tegan, and found them three-dimensional and believable. 

If I have a slight gripe it’s that the ending happens rather too quickly and ends are tidied up a tad too neatly for reality. Not that I minded - I like a book that ends in an encouraging way, with questions answered and subplots closed. But I’d have liked the ending to be a little longer.

Still, for anyone who likes women’s character-driven fiction with some significant issues covered, I would recommend this very highly.

Review copyright 2026 Sue's Book Reviews