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

by Alexander McCall Smith

Featured on BBC Radio 4's Take Four Books Six 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?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Scotland

252 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2025

About the author

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Visit him online at www.alexandermccallsmith.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Reviews

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5★s
The Private Side Of Friendship is a stand-alone novel by award-winning British author, Alexander McCall Smith. Examining the portfolio of a prospective exhibitor for the gallery where she works, when Julie sees the image of Ralph Macauley’s portrait of a group of four friends, she is immediately reminded of her time, four years earlier, sharing a Marchmont flat with five other students, and thinks of their impending reunion for a wedding.

The roomy flat was a real find: location, view, and the landlady was willing to let it to six students. Thus Julie, an Art History student, came to be sharing with students of English Literature, Architecture, Political Theory, and Philosophy, just by putting up an ad on the Student Union noticeboard, and taking a chance on those who replied.

As the flatmates and their associates, and the landlady all interact, there’s plenty of philosophical discussion, on a myriad of topics: the suffering caused by the ongoing mining strikes and that Iron Lady PM, education levels, English/Scottish friction, those dispossessed of their land, beauty, speakers’ bureaus, and witch hunts, as well as each of their areas of study,

Conversations and inner musings touch on the fact of deindustrialisation, on depression, teachers, leaving one’s hometown, making mayonnaise, collective responsibility, social taboos, and hardship.

As might be expected when six people live together, there are attractions perhaps unnoticed, love unrequited, occasional differences of opinion, acts of friendship, and some rule breaking, ultimately resulting in fond memories of their months together. And when they come together for that wedding, a delightful little surprise.

McCall Smith has a talent for creating realistic characters whose thoughts and feelings and conversations are wholly credible. He does need a better copy editor, though, to pick up continuity issues. An enjoyable, heart-warming read.

[Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Rounded up.

[Ronald Schoedel III · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gently philosophical, subtly emotional, imminently relatable. All this set in beautifully described, always elegant Edinburgh and Scotland. This has become probably my favourite of Sir Alexander’s standalone novels.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lovely story

I love Alexander’s lovely use of English words. I love to read his stories with an English dictionary by my side as I learn many new words at the time.
This book was a most enjoyable read. It told the story of the disparate group of students who came together without first knowing one another, to share a beautiful flat in Edinburgh, Scotland. Some parts of the book reminded me of the authors Sunday Philosophy Club series and other parts of the 44 Scotland Street series. Alexander McCall Smith writes beautifully using words to paint a picture of a lovely City and of ethical and moral behaviours of some of those who inhabit it. His writing is just delicious.

[Georgia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Extremely trite, absolutely no emotional depth or message as far as I could tell. Am baffled by the good reviews.

[Julie Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book. A gentle read very typical of A McC Smith.

[Yasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

[3,5-4/5]

[Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely wee slice of Edinburgh student life in the mid-80s.

[Victoria Cuddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay as holiday read

[Lynne - The Book Squirrel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story!

[Jan Mawdesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by Trish Palmer for New South Books and Bluewolf Reviews.
As always, Alexander McCall Smith delivers an interesting story about people, their thoughts and ideas and interactions in The Private Side of Friendship. This time the familiar setting in Edinburgh is once again used to embrace the characters and set the scene.
Mrs Donald has a large and spacious house with six bedrooms to let out to university students. Julie is the first to see the advertisement and immediately makes contact. Mrs Donald appoints her as the person to screen and accept students for the other five rooms.
Julie’s friend Angela is amazed at the airy, spacious, light flat with her own choice of bedrooms. Georgia is the next student to apply to rent the room. Georgia is the daughter of a wealthy orthopedic surgeon she is studying Political Theory and had not thought about where this would lead. Then there was Ian and Neil. They too fell in love with the house and accepted the terms and conditions both formal and informal.
Because of the different study areas that the group have, their conversations were varied and interesting. We learn a great deal about the passions and forward thinking of them. Their interactions raise many ethical issues. As Angela comes from a mining area where the Miners strikes are ongoing, she feels that Georgia would benefit by coming to visit, help at the volunteers’ group and gain an insight into the situation.
The group meet at a reunion when Georgia decides to get married in Scotland. It is four years after they have all gone their separate ways. There is so much to catch up on, and a few confessions to make. Such friendships as these will be long lasting and each of the former students will always hold a place in each other’s hearts. The long intense discussions over late night cocoa will remain an integral part of their years together.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Private Side of Friendship sees us travel back to 1980s Edinburgh when a group of six University students share a large tenement flat. As is often the case for uni students, they didn’t know each other before moving in so the book is as much about them getting to know each other as it is for the reader getting to know the characters. They come from different places and have very different backgrounds which made for some really interesting situations and conversations.

There are tensions around the miners’ strike with one of the group coming from a mining town to the west of Edinburgh. Scotland’s feelings around the prime minister and government of the time are explored and let’s just say they are not favourable which, from experience, I can confirm is entirely accurate!

If you are looking for a book with lots going on, this isn’t the book for you. If however, you are looking for a gentle read with an insightful look at friendships established during what is for many people a formative stage of their lives, then give The Private Side of Friendship a try. It will be sure to please fans of Alexander McCall Smith’s warm, amusing style of writing.

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book club option, which I chose because I had read this author many years ago with a few of the no 1 ladies detective agency books. My observations of those books are similar to this one, which is it's a bit non eventful for my preference. The 6 students come together to live in their final year of university in 1984. A period of unrest with the minor strikes and a battle of Margaret Thatcher against the unions. However the students go about their independent lives, getting on well but quite superficially it seems to me. They have intellectual debates much more than I remember of my student days in the same era. Relationships are there in the background but again nothing is made too serious about them nor discussed openly. A rather frustrating, non eventful book in summary. They come together at the end for a meet up where we learn that the one relationship of James and Lizzie has blossomed. They all claim that living together was the happiest time of their lives?? Was it 🤔

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was perfectly fine. Some students share a flat. That's it. That's the book.

I can't help but feel AMS just churns them out now, The Ladies Detective are not so much 'cosy' as comatose, and here, several characters seem to be lazily lifted straight out his other Edinburgh books. The slightly unfulfilled gallery assistant - 44 Scotland Street. The chef who feels uneducated - 44 Scotland Street. The older busybody, with money, big house, and a journal editorial - Isabel Dalhousie. The slightly lost guy fulfilled by working in a deli - also Isobel Dalhousie. The handsome guy everyone's in love with but has a gf - Perfect Passion

[Sarah Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning and end chapters reveal life in 1988 in Scotland but for Julie her mind goes back four years to when she met five students and her life at university.

The following chapters outline life during the latter part of university life, how she met the other students and a little about their respective families.

The miners strike makes a strong appearance and the effect it has on the community.

The description of Edinburgh allows the reader to visualise the surroundings and it is not until the final chapter that reveals why they are meeting up and discover what has occurred in between.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gentle read to start the year, perfectly pleasant but didn’t wow me. I enjoyed the descriptions of Edinburgh and I could hear the author’s voice as I read, since I had attended an event a month earlier. There was something in the writing that made it obvious that a much older person was trying to remember what it felt like to be that age.

[Tara Mickela]

A little flat, no pun intended. I didn’t really care about these characters. Fourth star is because of my love affair with the city of Edinburgh which is described in beautiful detail. Perhaps that was the purpose; “she” was the best character.

[Lily-Anne Reynolds-Hume · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️
I loved it sooooo much but I just wish the first half was as good as the second!

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published 2025

[Louise Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, AMS is an easy cheery read

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful. A great cast of characters and lovely writing.