About the book

Dr. Levine’s seminal book on female friendships—Best Friends Forever: Surviving a Breakup with Your Best Friend—was published in September 2009. Here is what reviewers and readers have to say about the book:

From Publishers Weekly

“Levine’s first book is a formidable resource for negotiating the ending of women’s friendships. The author, a journalist, psychologist and professor at NYU Medical School, affirms that the grief of ending a close friendship can be as potent as that of a dying romantic relationship. But the former rarely garners the same social support as a divorce or romantic breakup…Full of hints for being a consistently thoughtful friend, for resuscitating your closest friendship or knowing when to end it, this book is part etiquette guide, part grief manual. Whether your friendship sputtered because of physical distance or your best friend slept with your boyfriend, Levine deftly assures us that although the pain can be strong, the sorrow will pass.” (Sept 2009. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

From Other Authors and Experts

“For anyone who has ever had a friend, but especially for those who’ve ended close relationships, Irene Levine has written a beautiful guide to recovery and healing. It’s a book filled with honest reflections and heartfelt advice.”
—Jeffrey Zaslow, New York Times bestselling author of The Girls from Ames and co-author of The Last Lecture

“Finally, a book that helps you get through the other type of breakup.”
—Andrea Lavinthal and Jessica Rozler, authors of Friend or Frenemy?

“The end of a friendship is painful and sad, regardless of the circumstances. Dr. Irene Levine explores this difficult subject with insight and heart, plus a look at the latest research. Her guidance is especially interesting and helpful regarding Facebook and other new developments that are changing the meaning of friendship in today’s world.”
—Florence Isaacs, author of Toxic Friends/True Friends and What Do You Say When…

“Dr. Irene Levine’s Best Friends Forever: Surviving a Breakup with Your Best Friend should be every woman’s BFF! Written in a breezy yet thoughtful style and peppered with stories from real-life best friends, this guide shows that female friendships are rich, life-affirming, joyful-but often very complicated too. We women love our friends, but we feel completely alone and confused when those friendships get troubled or even disappear. In her unique self-help guide, Dr Levine gives essential advice and tips for navigating the ups and downs of female friendship.”
—Joanne Rendell, author of The Professors Wives Club and Crossing Washington Square

“Best Friends Forever explodes the myths about female friendships and is a readable, entertaining survival manual filled with practical advice for girls and women of all ages. The book reminds us that it is the nature of relationships to change over time, and helps us understand and cope with those changes. We don’t expect to marry our elementary school sweethearts, and it is equally rare for our best friends from childhood to be there for us forever. This book will help you navigate the choppy waters that complicate friendships, advise you on how to salvage the friendships that can and should be saved, and guide you to move on when necessary.”
—Diana Zuckerman, PhD, Psychologist, President, National Research Center for Women & Families

“A fractured friendship can be as painful as any other break-up, whether you’ve been jilted by a friend or been the one to do the jilting. Irene S. Levine understands the complications of friendship-the lulls, the obstacles, and yes, the dissolutions, and offers kind, practical and realistic tools to recover from a break-up and emerge strong, healthy and complete.”
—Allison Winn Scotch, New York Times bestselling author

From Amazon Readers

“I would highly recommend this book to anyone having a struggle with a female friendship.”
—Merlot

“Thanks to this book, I was able to mourn the loss of my “BFF” and move on to healthier, happier, more nurturing friendships.”
—Cooliebird

“This book helped me tremendously. My best friend ended our 18-year friendship abruptly over a man… I will keep this book because I will be re-reading parts of it.”
—Ric