What Is The Book Follies About?

Rosie Thomas’s 'Follies' is like a love letter to the complexities of female friendship. It starts with four women meeting in their twenties at a seaside resort, and the story spans their lives through marriages, careers, and personal crises. What stands out is how unflinchingly honest it is—these women aren’t always likable, but they’re real. Annie’s ruthlessness, Nina’s flightiness, Laura’s people-pleasing, and Deirdre’s passive-aggressiveness make them flawed and unforgettable. The holiday camp scenes are bright and lively, but the later years are where the emotional weight kicks in. Thomas nails how time changes friendships, sometimes deepening bonds, sometimes eroding them. It’s a book that makes you want to call your oldest friend immediately.

The book 'Follies' by Rosie Thomas is this gorgeous, sprawling saga that wraps you up in its world. It follows the lives of four women—Nina, Annie, Laura, and Deirdre—who meet at a holiday camp in the 1960s and form this tight-knit bond. The story jumps through time, showing how their lives intertwine and diverge over decades, with all the messy, beautiful chaos of real friendships. There’s romance, betrayal, career struggles, and family drama, but what really got me was how Thomas captures the way friendships evolve. Some scenes hit so close to home, especially when the women reunite later in life and confront buried secrets.

What I adore is how the book doesn’t shy away from the imperfections of these women. Annie’s ambition clashes with her vulnerabilities, Nina’s free spirit masks deeper loneliness, and Laura’s perfectionism unravels in heartbreaking ways. The holiday camp setting early on is nostalgic and vibrant, almost like a character itself. By the end, I felt like I’d lived alongside them—laughing at their inside jokes, wincing at their fights, and tearing up at their reconciliations. It’s a book that lingers, making you reflect on your own 'follies' and the people who’ve stuck by you through them.

'Follies' is one of those books I picked up on a whim and couldn’t put down. It’s got this addictive quality where you just need to know what happens next to these women. The way Rosie Thomas writes makes their friendships feel so authentic—none of that idealized, sugar-coated stuff. These characters screw up, hurt each other, and love each other fiercely anyway. The 1960s holiday camp scenes are pure nostalgia, with all the youthful energy and hope of that era, but the later chapters hit harder as life wears them down in different ways.

I especially connected with Deirdre’s arc—she’s often sidelined early on, but her quiet resilience becomes the emotional backbone of the group. The book’s structure, jumping between timelines, keeps you piecing together how small moments snowball into life-altering choices. There’s a scene where Nina confronts Annie about a long-held grudge that had me holding my breath. Thomas doesn’t tie everything up neatly, which I appreciate; some relationships fray, others mend, but it all feels true. If you’ve ever had a friendship that’s survived decades (or wished one had), this book will wreck you in the best way.