Famous Friends: George Knightley and Emma Woodhouse

Although this couple from Jane Austen’s novel Emma eventually fall in love, their connection begins as childhood neighbors. Their intimate friendship predates and lays the foundation for their romance. Read The Sister Knot about two resilient women, orphaned in WW2, who defy fate to sustain a lifelong friendship. A compelling novel about the power of sisterhood. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

George and Emma shared a childhood friendship before embarking on an adult romance

Two resilient women, two separate journeys, one lasting friendship

Famous Friends: Ulysses S. Grant and James Longstreet

West Point cadets and friends, Grant later commanded the Union Army during the American Civil War, while Longstreet was one of Robert E. Lee’s most trusted Confederate officers. In fact, Longstreet convinced Lee to surrender, knowing Grant would offer him generous terms. After warmly greeting each other at the surrender ceremony, Grant and Longstreet played brag (a card game) for old time’s sake. When the war ended, Longstreet strongly supported Reconstruction. The two men remained good friends. Read The Sister Knot about two resilient women, orphaned in WW2, who defy fate to sustain a lifelong friendship. A compelling novel about the power of sisterhood. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Union General Grant and Confederate Officer Longstreet resumed their friendship after the Civil War ended

Two resilient women, two separate journeys, one lasting friendship

Famous Friends: Clarissa and Richard

The friendship of Clarissa and Richard in The Hours by Michael Cunningham is shrouded in unrequited history and current tragedy. Modeled on Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, Cunningham’s 1999 Pulitzer Prize winning novel illuminates both the superficiality and depth in the single day of a life. Read The Sister Knot about two resilient women, orphaned in WW2, who defy fate to sustain a lifelong friendship. A compelling novel about the power of sisterhood. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Clarissa and Richard, friends in The Hours

Two resilient women, two separate journeys, one lasting friendship

Famous Friends: Elton John and Keith Richards

What began as a friendship devolved into a musical feud when Richards, the Rolling Stones guitarist, accused John of overstaying a guest appearance on a Stones’ show. He criticized John’s reframing of Candle in the Wind after Princess Diana’s death as “Songs for Dead Blondes,” while John said in 1997 that “Richards is like a monkey with arthritis. The Stones should have thrown him out 15 years ago.” Read The Sister Knot about two resilient women, orphaned in WW2, who defy fate to sustain a lifelong friendship. A compelling novel about the power of sisterhood. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

The musicians were friends until the mutual insults began to fly

Two resilient women, two separate journeys, one lasting friendship

Famous Friends: Taylor Swift and Kanye West

They started as friends, feuded, and attempted to repair their friendship until West interrupted Swift’s speech at MTV Music Video Awards saying, “I made that bitch famous.” Since then, the barbs have flown back and forth. Given Taylor’s financial success and fandom, she appears to be winning that battle. Read The Sister Knot about two resilient women, orphaned in WW2, who defy fate to sustain a lifelong friendship. A compelling novel about the power of sisterhood. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Taylor Swift and Kanye West evolved from friendship to public feuding

Two resilient women, two separate journeys, one lasting friendship

Famous Friends: Frog and Toad

In the Frog and Toad picture books by Arnold Lobel, Frog and Toad are constant friends. The quirky pair do ordinary things and also embark on grand adventures. Whether they are flying kites or chasing after a missing button, these pals charm young readers and the adults who read with them. Read The Sister Knot about two resilient women, orphaned in WW2, who defy fate to sustain a lifelong friendship. A compelling novel about the power of sisterhood. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Amphibian amiability and adventures

Two resilient women, two separate journeys, one lasting friendship

Famous Friends: Joe Louis And Max Schmeling

Boxers Louis and Schmeling had a media-fueled rivalry in the 1930s. Louis, an American Black athlete, beat Shmeling, who Hitler called an Aryan hero. Neither man liked being a political symbol. They reconnected after World War II and remained close friends. Schmeling even helped pay for Louis’s funeral in 1981. Read The Sister Knot about two resilient women, orphaned in WW2, who defy fate to sustain a lifelong friendship. A compelling novel about the power of sisterhood. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Boxers Joe Louis and Max Schmeling preferred being friends to rivals

Two resilient women, two separate journeys, one lasting friendship

Famous Friends: Winnie Foster and the Tucks

In Natalie Babbit’s Tuck Everlasting, 10-year-old Winnie is friendless until she meets the Tucks at a spring whose waters can grant immortality. Winnie learns a lifetime of lessons in the few days she spends with Tucks. Read The Sister Knot about two resilient women, orphaned in WW2, who defy fate to sustain a lifelong friendship. A compelling novel about the power of sisterhood. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Winnie Foster finds friendship in Tuck Everlasting

Two resilient women, two separate journeys, one lasting friendship

Famous Friends: Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King

Media mogul Winfrey and broadcast journalist King met in 1976, while working at a Baltimore television station. One day, when a snowstorm hit and King couldn’t get home, Winfrey invited her to spend the night. They connected immediately and have been best friends ever since, which they attribute to mutual honesty, enjoying each other’s company, and the ability to communicate, even without words. Read The Sister Knot about two resilient women, orphaned in WW2, who defy fate to sustain a lifelong friendship. A compelling novel about the power of sisterhood. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Winfrey & King communicate, even without words

Two resilient women, two separate journeys, one lasting friendship

Famous Friends: Audre Lorde and Pat Parker

Lorde and Parker were both Black lesbian poets, mothers, activists, and cancer patients. Beginning in the 1970s, they wrote each other regularly, grappling with the issues we confront fifty years later: social justice, women’s rights, and critical race theory. Read The Sister Knot about two resilient women, orphaned in WW2, who defy fate to sustain a lifelong friendship. A compelling novel about the power of sisterhood. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Poets Lorde and Parker were decades ahead of their time

Two resilient women, two separate journeys, one lasting friendship