It's combines the compulsive 'what would you do' appeal of a Jodi Picoult novel with wonderfully sharp social observation and real heart. As students, Marianne Dillon and Clare McMahon become instant and unlikely friends. Marianne's generosity and Clare's steadfastness are the glue of a friendship that sees them through twenty-five years of love and loss, successes and disappointments, marriage and motherhood.

The secret of their friendship, they believe, is that they are complete opposites. But when a life-altering crisis hits their relationship - a crisis that involves their husbands, children and indeed the lives they have created - the crack that was there all along tears them apart. Each must face catastrophe without the support of the best friend she would always turn to. Is it possible that a relationship that was so central to their lives was built on sand?

And can they rescue something from the wreckage? Sarah Harte's debut, The Better Half, had critics raving about her ability to get under the skin of women who appear to have it all, but underneath are barely coping in their gilded cages.