Author Lisi Harrison Defends Bringing Back ‘The Clique’ 14 Years Since Last Book: ‘Friend Drama’ Is Timeless (Exclusive)



NEED TO KNOW

  • Lisi Harrison is revisiting The Clique
  • 14 years after the last book, she wants to address the new challenges in her audience’s lives with a sequel
  • Harrison is working on a new Clique book with Ellen Marlow, who starred in the 2008 movie adaptation

Lisi Harrison never thought her books would make such an impact.

Before publishing her best-selling book series, The Clique, the 55-year-old was “working full-time at MTV.”

“It was such a different time for me,” she tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I had no idea these books would be a success. I knew I always wanted to be a writer. I had this opportunity, and I took it.”

After releasing the first book in 2004, the sales figures proved she was on the right path, as did the fan mail and packed book signings. At middle schools and high schools around the country, the books were passed around and discussed at length. 

“Then, the second book ended up on the New York Times bestseller list, and it was deeply shocking,” she adds.

Lisi Harrison.

Candice Dartez


Still, it wasn’t until she teamed up with actress Ellen Marlow for the 2008 movie adaptation that she fully grasped the cultural phenomenon that she had created. Then, when the movie came to Netflix in 2021 and there was an online resurgence, she was once again shocked to learn about the series’ impact.

Initially, Harrison says she had a contract for four books. After completing that, she secured another contract for an additional four books. In total, Harrison wrote 14 books for the series, as well as a series of five mini-summer novellas and a Cliquetionary, a guide to the tween characters’ slang.

The books follow Claire Lyons, who befriends a group of wealthy girls known as the Pretty Committee, headed by Massie Block, after her family moves from Florida to Westchester, N.Y.

Harrison says she keeps coming back to these characters because “they are so dynamic.”

“I am much older than these fictional characters are, and can say that in your 50s, friend drama does not cease to exist. It becomes more insane,” she shares. “Because you think, ‘Aren’t we over this yet?’ We’re not. It just won’t stop.”

Harrison has written 42 novels, all of which revolve around female friendships. 

“All of these novels, characters and plots are me trying to exercise these demons and try to understand why this dynamic is so nuanced and fraught and rich,” she says. “I could have written about the Clique girls forever. I am clearly returning to them.” 

While Harrison “loves all [her] characters,” she notes that the Clique characters “feel like home and most represent my soul.”

“Each one of them is part of me in a real, very literal way,” she shares. “If I exploded, each one of those characters would be shards of my soul.”

Now, she is returning to the Pretty Committee to prove that the drama that happens in middle school doesn’t go away; it just evolves. That’s the premise she hopes to share in her upcoming book for the Clique series — 14 years after the last book, A Tale of Two Pretties, was published in 2011.

Lisi Harrison.

Lisi Harrison/Instagram


The new book was announced in October 2024, and it will feature the book’s central characters now in their 20s. She teamed up with Marlow, who starred as Claire Lyons in the Clique movie, to bring the project back to life.

Challenges in female friendships, according to Harrison, are “relevant,” “evergreen,” and “everyone is always trying to figure it out.”  

“The fans that read it are going through wedding season, or a different season in their life. If you’re 27 to 30, you’re going through a middle school set of changes yet again,” she says.

“College is over. You’re living on your own. Can you afford it? Who are my friends now? It doesn’t stop, and then you bring wedding drama into it. It is a series of us trying to figure out how to treat each other well, and how not to lose ourselves in the process.”

Harrison notes that while the market is currently flooded with self-help books about finding confidence and romantic relationships, there aren’t many books that showcase the dynamics between women. 

“This whole ‘how do I deal with friend drama’ is very underserved and unnecessary,” Harrison says. “Why now? Because you need it now. At the very least, let’s see ourselves reflected to us so we can see how crazy it is. Feel less alone in it. Feel more connected to each other through it. It feels relevant for those reasons, because it never ends and it’s always relevant.”

Without sharing too many details about the book’s plot, Harrison teases that one of the main characters is planning a wedding, which triggers the return of another main character. Harrison hopes to shine a light on the insecurities women carry from their teenage years into adulthood, and how being around people from their past can bring back old wounds and insecurities. 

“It’s how we all revert to our old roles when we’re surrounded by the people who knew us before we knew ourselves. It’s that syndrome we feel when we’re out in the world, and then we go home, and we are reduced to the people we once were, and all of the growing and confidence and strengthening falls away,” Harrison describes. “We become those people again, the people that we’ve been trying to outrun, and more importantly, the people we thought we outran, but we didn’t. We just removed ourselves from the situation.”

“That is going to be a theme where all these girls, the insecurities and that they had when we saw them last, they’re still there,” she continues. “It’s them being reminded that they haven’t fully metabolized their old wounds and them being allowed to do so.”

Harrison has tapped into the partnership and friendship with Marlow, 31, to understand the minds of women in their late 20s and early 30s.

“Working with Ellen has been a godsend because it’s no secret I’m not 30. While I can develop characters and create conflict, I don’t know the nuances of being 30 today,” she explains. “The world, dating, friendship and communication are different.”

Ellen Marlow.

Ellen Marlow/Instagram


“She has been so valuable for correcting me on what’s actually happening.. She’s so smart and a fan of the books. She’s been the perfect collaborator because we shockingly and wonderfully have the same sensibility,” she adds.

Still, Harrison worries about getting the story “just right” and making her audience feel heard, all while delivering a compelling narrative. She’s been able to tune out people online and fan theories, instead just sticking to the outline for the book.

At the same time, Harrison appreciates the love and support she’s received from the online community, which has only strengthened her desire to continue the series. 

“I am using this as a way to reconnect with this audience that I am obsessed with, grateful for, I feel like I have so much in common with,” she says. “The chance to dip back into that world, energy and community has been very restorative and exciting. It gives me this feeling of, ‘Oh, this isn’t over.’ ”

“Female friendship is nuanced, crucial, and we all have work to do. I want readers to feel less alone in the struggle and really feel connected. You are not alone. Everybody’s dealing with this. We all have work to do.”




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