Bad Friend

Bad Friend (2025) explores the fascinating and understudied subject of female friendship throughout history. This survey of friendships between women introduces the reader to Victorian schoolgirl attachments, Depression-era workplace confidantes, feminist consciousness-raising circles, and more. It also offers an incisive analysis of the way mainstream culture has alternately ignored, policed, and celebrated this specific bond.

• History lovers who want to uncover untold stories of female friendship
• Feminists ready to learn how female friendship has shaped resistance and revolution
• Anyone who is, or has, a female friend

Tiffany Watt Smith is a cultural historian and author specializing in the history of emotions. Her books include The Book of Human Emotions and Schadenfreude: The Joy of Another's Misfortune. She is a Reader in Cultural History at Queen Mary University of London and has been recognized as one of the BBC’s New Generation Thinkers.