1989 leaver Flic Everett has recently celebrated the publication of her first novel, The Only Friends You Need, which has been well-received by critics and readers alike.

Set in Manchester, The Only Friends You Need tells the story of the interwoven lives of six friends and explores the meaning of friendship, questioning whether it's possible to remain friends forever. Flic explains her subject choice for the novel thus: "I wanted to write about friendship, because it's been so crucial to my own stability and happiness over the years, yet it's often overlooked in fiction, in favour of romance." Flic recalls English as being her favourite subject whilst a pupil at Withington, telling us: "I developed a real love of writing at school, and was genuinely encouraged to be creative."

After leaving Withington, Flic became a journalist and broadcaster and has written for various magazines and newspapers, including the Guardian, the Daily Mail, the Sunday Times, Company Magazine, Cosmo, Elle, Marie Claire and New Woman. She was Chief Columnist for the Manchester Evening News for several years, and was the resident agony aunt for Company magazine and on the Key 103 show ‘Emotional Rescue'.

Flic is currently setting up a travel magazine website with her husband, Simon, called Road, Rail & Sea, and then plans to start her second novel, which will be set in 1972.

The Only Friends You'll Need can be purchased from Amazon, and our congratulations go to Flic upon its publication.

Published: 11th April 2012