Beryl was capable of exceedingly deep friendships. Witness her friendship with D, with Cockie, etc. We have to remember the era and it's attitude towards women. Women, especially in a place like Kenya, were mostly useful as something to trade and use. No, she didn't have a BFF posse, because women, in order to survive, had to maintain their usefulness according to society, and that meant according to men. Women were pitted against each other and encouraged to mistrust other women and see them as rivals. That is what was so extraordinary about Beryl, and Karen Blixen. They were friends, and that friendship had nothing to do with Denys and their relationship with him. They respected each other as unique human beings, not satellites of the men in their lives. That is also what makes the real Beryl Markham such an exceptional woman for her time.