Helena and Ruthie have been best friends since high school, where they bonded over Wuthering Heights, Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet and photographs of Joseph Stalin when he was young and hot. They dreamed of getting a sharehouse in the city and living adult lives of great passion, art and romance.

But as they drift into their late twenties, they are forced to contend with the idea that growing up might mean growing apart. Helena is pining for her ex-boyfriend while working at an elite boys' school rife with sexual harassment and oil paintings of ships. Meanwhile, Ruthie is pouring her marital despair into three-tiered funfetti cakes, seeking refuge from her family in solo Friday-night trips to Woolworths.

When an old school friend invites Helena and Ruthie to a glamorous forest wedding, they jump at the chance to reconnect. But finding their way back to each other, past unrealised dreams and younger selves, isn't as easy as they thought. Inspired by Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Dream Girls is a novel about love and friendship in absurd times.