{"product_id":"strange-girls-a-superlative-novel-by-one-of-our-most-perceptive-writers-julia-armfield-9780349703121","title":"Strange Girls: 'A superlative novel by one of our most perceptive writers' Julia Armfield","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrom the prize-winning author of \u003c\/i\u003eTHE GIANT DARK \u003ci\u003ecomes a beautiful exploration of the ties that bind us and the scars they leave when they break.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'Touching, infuriating and painfully true, \u003ci\u003eStrange Girls \u003c\/i\u003eis a superlative novel by one of our most perceptive writers. Sarvat Hasin is an artist whose work demands to be read.' \u003cb\u003eJulia Armfield, author of \u003ci\u003ePrivate Rites\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'Simply sublime-about that feverish, feral first finding of true friendship that becomes all-encompassing and reforms who you are.' \u003cb\u003eKiran Milwood Hargrave, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Mercies\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom award-winning author Sarvat Hasin comes a stunning novel about two estranged friends forced to reunite over one feverish weekend and reckon with the choices that tore them apart.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA decade has passed since Ava spoke to Aliya. Aliya has everything Ava wants-a room of her own and a publishing deal-and, worse, the thing Ava was certain neither of them had ever wanted: a sensible doctor husband. Arriving back in London for a mutual friend's hen party, Ava is desperate to unpack the truth of their shared history and what they meant to each other.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAliya and Ava first met in the halls of their historic campus with dreams built upon Emily Bronte, \u003ci\u003eBrideshead Revisited\u003c\/i\u003e and Richard Curtis films. Their connection was electric. They created a world of their own through the stories they wrote, influencing and borrowing from each other's work. But when the end of university loomed, the real world began to pull them in opposite directions. Was their bond ever truly as strong as they thought? And what would become of the stories they told themselves about each other?\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWeaving together their past and present, \u003ci\u003eStrange Girls\u003c\/i\u003e is an ingenious exploration of the ties forged in the intensity of youth, and the scars left when they break.\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9780349703121\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: 10 Mar 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: John Murray Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 23.4(H)x15.2(L)x3.2(W)440\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): 440\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003eSarvat Hasin is a novelist and dramaturg from Pakistan. She has a master's in creative writing from the University of Oxford. Her first novel, \u003ci\u003eThis Wide Night\u003c\/i\u003e, was longlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. Her second book, \u003ci\u003eYou Can't Go Home Again\u003c\/i\u003e, was featured in \u003ci\u003eVogue India\u003c\/i\u003e's and \u003ci\u003eThe Hindu\u003c\/i\u003e's 'best of the year' lists. Her third novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Giant Dark\u003c\/i\u003e, was a runaway critical success, won the Mo Siewcharran Prize and was shortlisted for the RSL Encore Award. She lives in London.\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003eTouching, infuriating and painfully true, \u003ci\u003eStrange Girls\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003ea superlative novel by one of our most perceptive writers\u003c\/b\u003e. Sarvat Hasin is an artist whose work \u003cb\u003edemands to be read\u003c\/b\u003e. -- Julia Armfield, author of PRIVATE RITES\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003enother dreamy, hypnotic novel from Sarvat Hasin\u003c\/b\u003e, a writer who is a consummate expert in \u003cb\u003eevoking the sweetness and pain of nostalgia\u003c\/b\u003e . . . Utterly gorgeous. -- Jennifer Saint, author of ARIADNE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSimply sublime\u003c\/b\u003e - about that feverish, feral first finding of true friendship that becomes all-encompassing and reforms who you are. -- Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of THE DANCE TREE\u003cbr\u003eSarvat Hasin is \u003cb\u003ea storming talent\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003ci\u003eStrange Girls\u003c\/i\u003e is a \u003cb\u003ebeautiful and yearning\u003c\/b\u003e read. -- Daisy Johnson, author of EVERYTHING UNDER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eVivid, layered, and sharp,\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eStrange Girls\u003c\/i\u003e is a striking portrait\u003c\/b\u003e that captures the messy, tense, and beautiful struggles where friendship meets longing. Sarvat Hasin has penned a novel \u003cb\u003eprofoundly tender\u003c\/b\u003e and unrelenting. \u003cb\u003eI envy whoever reads it next for the very first time.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Lucy Rose, author of THE LAMB\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCompulsive and all-consuming\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003eStrange Girls\u003c\/i\u003e charts the intoxicating waters of friendship where you are both seen too clearly and yet not at all. Hasin \u003cb\u003edevastatingly evokes that fumbling age of identity construction\u003c\/b\u003e, of finding meaning and purpose in another person when you fear there's none you can find in yourself, at once lost yet entirely particular. I'm obsessed. -- Kat Dunn, author of HUNGERSTONE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA wonder of a novel\u003c\/b\u003e. Tender and keen-eyed, with characters so lifelike you could reach out and touch them. Hasin's approach to storytelling remains \u003cb\u003esingularly brilliant\u003c\/b\u003e. I loved it. -- Amy Twigg, author of SPOILT CREATURES\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eI absolutely ate \u003ci\u003eStrange Girls \u003c\/i\u003eup\u003c\/b\u003e. Hasin writes fraught friendships, chaotic codependency and queer longing with consummate sensitivity and wryness. -- Gr√°inne O'Hare, author of THIRST TRAP\u003cbr\u003eA novel of rare clarity and insight, \u003cb\u003eaching with a complex, deeply felt love\u003c\/b\u003e. I was captivated and moved from the outset. -- Megan Hunter, author of THE END WE START FROM\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLuminous, tender\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eand near mythic \u003c\/b\u003e. . . \u003cb\u003eThis novel had its grip on my heart from the very first pages.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Freya Bromley, author of THE TIDAL YEAR\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eStrange Girls\u003c\/i\u003e is a \u003cb\u003etense and enthralling\u003c\/b\u003e portrait of a relationship that resists definition . . . \u003cb\u003eHasin writes love in all its troubling forms with beautiful nuance\u003c\/b\u003e, and this novel is an entire world unto itself. You'll hate to leave it. -- Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta, authors of FEAST WHILE YOU CAN\u003cbr\u003eI adored \u003ci\u003eStrange Girls\u003c\/i\u003e. Beautifully written, Sarvat Hasin perfectly captures university life in the noughties, the all-consuming intimacy of closeted queer-coded relationships between young women and the unbearable weight of unspoken feelings. \u003cb\u003ePERFECTION.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Alice Slater, author of DEATH OF A BOOKSELLER\u003cbr\u003eHasin plumbs the depths of obsessive, intense friendship; the beautiful, the sad and the heartbreaking. \u003cb\u003eA breathtaking novel by one of the most exciting writers today.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Lizzie Huxley-Jones\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eStrange Girls\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003ealive with the intoxicating intensity of youthful creative friendship\u003c\/b\u003e-devotion, jealousy, and a shared hunger for art. Sarvat Hasin's fresh, tender writing stayed with me,\u003cb\u003e capturing how deeply those early bonds can shape, and scar, a life\u003c\/b\u003e. -- Lisa Harding, author of THE WILDELINGS\u003cbr\u003eHasin's writing is \u003cb\u003eevocative and addictive\u003c\/b\u003e, layering in issues of class, place and race into an otherwise\u003cb\u003e introspective and detailed\u003c\/b\u003e novel. -- 'The 12 most anticipated novels of 2026' * Dazed *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eA novel \u003cb\u003eboth radiant with the brightness and wonder of youth, and wise-eyed with the dissolution of idealism\u003c\/b\u003e. Sarvat Hasin is a brilliant chronicler of the human heart, and this book \u003cb\u003ewill move and enthral anyone who has been deeply entwined in friendship, love and nostalgia \u003c\/b\u003e(that is, everyone!).\u003c\/p\u003e -- Sharlene Teo, author of PONTI\u003cbr\u003eMasterfully weaving through past and present and between the threads of tension, jealousy, and tenderness, \u003ci\u003eStrange Girls\u003c\/i\u003e is\u003cb\u003e a triumphant portrait of female friendship\u003c\/b\u003e. -- '10 Best New Books of March' * Bustle *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIrresistible\u003c\/b\u003e . . . Hasin crafts an intriguing story full of ambitions, jealousy and homoerotic female friendship that \u003cb\u003ereaders will not be able to shake free from\u003c\/b\u003e. -- Booklist\u003cbr\u003eFlawlessly and seemingly effortlessly brings readers into intimate moments without feeling intrusive. \u003cb\u003eHeart lives on every page \u003c\/b\u003e. . . The silence and yearning are heartbreaking. -- Debutiful","brand":"Sarvat Hasin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48291602563289,"sku":"9780349703121","price":34.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/9780349703121.jpg?v=1773495048","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/strange-girls-a-superlative-novel-by-one-of-our-most-perceptive-writers-julia-armfield-9780349703121","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}