“Circle of Friends” by Maeve Binchy is the August 2024 selection for the IrishCentral Book Club.
Each month, we will pick a new Irish book or a great book by an Irish author and celebrate the amazing ability of the Irish to tell a good story for the IrishCentral Book Club.
First published in Dublin in 1990, Binchy's fifth novel "Circle of Friends" was a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into more than a dozen languages.
In 1995, "Circle of Friends" was adapted into a feature film starring Minnie Driver, Geraldine O'Rawe, Saffron Burrows, Chris O'Donnell, and Alan Cumming.
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Synopsis of "Circle of Friends"
Big, soft-featured Benny, an adored only daughter, and Eve, the little bird-like orphan brought up by the nuns, are best friends in the small Irish town of Knockglen.
On their first day at University College, Dublin, an accident brings the pair together with fellow students Nan Malone and Jack Foley, and new friendships are quickly struck.
But beneath their carefree student existence, trouble is brewing for the circle of friends.
Benny, the good-natured clown of the group, always seems to draw the short straw in life, while Nan, selfish and very attractive, takes what she wants without expecting to pay for it. And Eve, intensely loyal to Benny, and resentful of Nan’s careless optimism, becomes obsessed with the need to avenge Benny’s disappointments.
Reviews for "Circle of Friends"
“[An] irresistible invitation to share the lives of people who believe in enduring values.” - Detroit Free Press
“A rare pleasure . . . at terrific tale, told by a master storyteller.” - Susan Isaacs, The New York Times Book Review
“Circle of Friends welcomes you in.” - The Washington Post
About Maeve Binchy
Maeve Binchy was born in County Dublin and educated at the Holy Child convent in Killiney and at University College, Dublin.
After a spell as a teacher, she joined The Irish Times. Her first novel, "Light a Penny Candle," was published in 1982, and she went on to write more than 20 books, all of them bestsellers. Several have been adapted for film and television, most notably "Circle of Friends" and "Tara Road," which was an Oprah’s Book Club selection.
She was married to the writer and broadcaster Gordon Snell for 35 years and died in 2012 at the age of 72.
(*Synopsis and reviews from MaeveBinchy.com. Biographical information from Penguin Random House.)
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