Your Friend and Mine

Dettmann at her hilarious and heartwarming best. — Tim Minchin

When Margot receives an email from her best friend, it comes as a shock... seeing as Tess died twenty years ago.

Margot is catapulted back to 2000, meeting the confident English backpacker visiting Sydney, where their intense friendship led to plans to travel back to Europe together. But then Margot fell in love with Johnny, and she never made it to London. Margot still feels guilty for letting Tess down.

Now Tess is providing Margot with the means to fly to London and have the trip they never got to do together. But there are stipulations to Tess's beyond-the-grave generosity—Margot must scatter her ashes and carry out 'tasks' in the company of Leo, Tess's stepbrother.

Margot can't help but compare the dreams and aspirations of the girl who partied with Tess to the bored, exhausted woman she has become. How could Tess have predicted that Margot would need a second chance to get on that plane?

If you're looking to break a reading drought, this book is for you. — Australian Women's Weekly

This is Dettmann's breakout book. No question. Your Friend and Mine is witty, insightful, and full of heart—a layered exploration of love, friendship, grief, and second chances. With her keen, often obscure and downright perfect observations on life, Dettmann delivers a novel that is as thought-provoking as it is joyous. — Sally Hepworth, author of Darling Girls

Funny, tender, and adventurous, this story had me alternating between laughter and tears throughout. Your Friend and Mine is a touching homage to love—between lovers and friends—and a beautiful exploration of the nuances of grief, all wrapped up in Jess' signature humour. I'm such a huge fan of Jess' books and this was my favourite of them all. I absolutely adored it. — Ali Lowe, author of The Private Island

Thoughtful, funny, touching, smart. Your Friend And Mine sparkles with Jess Dettmann's trademark wit, and charms with its sharp insights into friendship, long-term love, and detoured dreams. An absolute pleasure. — Holly Wainwright, author of He Would Never

A joyful, wise, and deeply moving story about friendship, desire, and unmet needs that delivers delight on every page. Funny, authentic, and profound, I absolutely loved it. — Anna Downes, author of Red River Road

A witty, relatable, and huge-hearted novel about friendship, long-term love, and the surprisingly difficult mid-life challenge of seeing your own life clearly. I absolutely loved it. — Emily Maguire, author of Rapture

A compelling and astutely observed tale of past regrets, complex love, and friendships lost and found. Movingly and wittily told, it draws you in from its first sentence and keeps you guessing till the last. Dettmann is a storyteller at the top of her game which is a high bar indeed. — Ben Elton

Dettmann confidently covers vast emotional ground while maintaining a light, accessible style. Your Friend and Mine is for readers of Marian Keyes. — Australian Bookseller & Publisher

A novel that manages to keep a laugh-per-page quotient hovering somewhere between that of Toni Jordan and P.G. Wodehouse, while embedding that humour in stories that speak to the lived reality of women's experience... a call to adventure Dettmann renders with trademark charm, black humour, and a neat grasp of human foible. The voice of Margot is one of the novel's chief pleasures. She's a narrator after Helen Garner's own heart: sardonic yet self-effacing, observant to a fault. Dettmann's prose is generous, however, even when her observational acuity is of Lorrie Moore or Anne Tyler-degree sharpness because she notices things democratically. — Geordie Williamson, The Australian

The premise of Jessica Dettmann's fourth novel is delicious... This at-times wistful and tender romp is a hoot. — Jason Steger, The Age

A thoughtful exploration of long-term relationships, personal growth, and how our values shift over time. This book is a heartfelt, beautifully crafted story, offering a much-needed escape and a poignant reminder of the ways friendship, love, and loss shape us. A lovely antidote for our troubled times. — Good Reading Magazine

A rising star for smart, warm, and witty fiction, Jessica Dettmann explores paths not taken, second chances, friendship, and love. — Australian Arts Review