Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik, (Bantam,£6.99).

A good friend is hard to find. Or so at least the saying goes. Therefore the achievement of the lead characters in Landvik's latest novel is all the more remarkable. They each manage to find four.

The five main characters are Faith, Audrey, Merit, Kari and Slip, through whose distinctive voices the narrative unfolds.

Faith is the envy of most, with an ability to maintain a fabulous house, while simultaneously juggling the demands of new motherhood, and making it all look so easy. But behind the relaxed facade, she is tormented by her past, and finding that her lies are getting harder to hide.

Audrey exudes confidence and sexuality, she thinks she has the perfect marriage, but that is all due to change thanks to her husband's wandering hands.

Merit possesses the sweetest nature and the most angelic face imaginable, but it's not enough to stop her husband abusing her.

Kari, having resigned herself to the life of a widow and the heartbreak of being unable to have children, cannot believe her luck at being offered the thing most precious in the world to her - a baby. And finally, Slip, who feels a growing sense of despair at the world in which she's bringing up her children.

The five friends feel lucky to have found each other and decide to form a book club, providing them with the opportunity to give their opinions and set the world to rights in the same afternoon!

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons (the name they adopt for the book club) spans the decades of their friendships, the highs and the lows that they could never imagine they would have to face.

The story is told well, and with real warmth.

Vikki Nilsen