The Private Side of Friendship : One city. Six strangers. A nation divided. The time of their lives.

Author: Alexander McCall Smith

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Published on 4 June 2026 by Birlinn General (Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited) in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 272 pages
197 x 129 x 25mm | 252g

Featured on BBC Radio 4's Take Four BooksSix 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 in the nearby hometown of one of the flatmates, the Miners' Strike is bringing about a huge political shift.

Despite their differences, can these six strangers help each other see the world from a different perspective? Is there such a thing as being too close? And what are the limits of love between friends?