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Circle of Friends
  
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Circle of Friends (Hardcover)

by Maeve Binchy (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (111 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Loyal friends Benny and Eve, young women who grew up together in an Irish village, find their relationship tested by the new friendships, romances and opportunities that develop at a Dublin university. According to PW , Binchy's characters have "a colorful way with words, and if the prose is sometimes careless, this is still Irish storytelling at its contemporary best."
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

Best friends since childhood in a small Irish village, first-year college students Benny and Eve are thrilled by the excitement of university life in Dublin. Befriended by Nan, a beautiful classmate with secret ambitions, the three form the nucleus of an ever-widening circle of friends that provides them with a happy sense of belonging and introduces them to a world of carefree activity. However, this light-hearted existence is brought to an abrupt halt when Nan's selfish, callous plans backfire, victimizing Benny and creating within Eve an obsessive desire to avenge Benny. Binchy is a wonderful storyteller, drawing the reader into the hearts of her characters. This engrossing examination of friendship's vicissitudes moves forward effortlessly at a marvelous pace, carrying the reader along on tense, mounting waves of loyalty and deceit. Highly recommended for all popular fiction collections. BOMC alternate.
- Sis ter M. Anna Falbo, Villa Maria Coll. Lib., Buffalo, N.Y.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Circle of Friends
69% buy the item featured on this page:
Circle of Friends 4.7 out of 5 stars (111)
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Customer Reviews

111 Reviews
5 star:
 (89)
4 star:
 (16)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (111 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most helpful customer reviews

 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a real gem by Binchy, Mar 10 2002
By Saima Huq "sh" (Astoria, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Circle of Friends (Mass Market Paperback)
As much as I loved the movie starring Minnie Driver and Chris O'Donnell, I loved this book far more. The movie skimmed the lives of everyone except Jack and Bernadette, nicknamed Benny.

But the book shows exactly how large the circle of friends actually is. It delves more deeply into the lives of Eve, raised by nuns who love her as a daughter, and Nan, the beautiful friend from a wretched family. Eve is also a shunned relative of the rich family with whom Nan is attempting to affiliate herself.

Benny's relationships with her parents are also more thoroughly examined, as is her growth from child to woman in the face of her father's death, going to college and meeting her first love -- and getting her heart broken.

Also - Jack (O'Donnell in the movie) is not the golden good guy that Hollywood paints him out to be. He willingly and knowingly cheats on Benny with Nan, which is far more realistic than the film version where he is liquored up by Nan who then uses him.

Again, Binchy's lilting writing style brings the little Irish vilage of Knockglen and the bustling city of Dublin to life, and she succeeds in keeping her myriad characters (more than in the movie!) on track, believable and interesting.

I think every woman in the world can identify with Benny when she meets Jack --- can't quite believe such a great guy would look at her, much less make her his girlfriend. And you will feel for her and root for her.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A nice change of pace, April 17 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Circle of Friends (School & Library Binding)
After reading three current best sellers - all overhyped garbage - this was a pleasant change of pace. Interesting characters that you care about, a good, solid story, and well-written. A bit long, I might have shaved it a little, but not a big issue. And my personal holy grail: no cuss words!!!!!

Nice read.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A good read, but..., Jun 10 2002
By scorpio (South Korea) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Circle of Friends (Mass Market Paperback)
I admit I really enjoyed this book and I definitely like Maeve Binchy's style of writing. But I could not help noticing that it was very much like "Tara Road", another of Maeve Binchy's great books. There is the plain, but nice girl who gets a man too good to be true, the "too-good-to-be-true" guy who starts out decently but ends up cheating on the nice plain girl, and then there is the smart, beautiful blond who is a friend of the nice girl and aspires to become great. In fact, Nan bore such a likeness to Rosemary in "Tara Road" in that she comes from a humble background but uses her good looks and seemingly effortless charm to make her way in the world, that they almost seemed like one person.
I plan to continue reading Maeve Binchy books, but I hope to see a little more creativity when conjuring up characters.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Book for a Rainy Day
I had heard a lot about this book and finally checked it out of my library for a rainy weekend.

I grew up at the same time as this story is set in, the 1950's, so a lot of it... Read more

Published on May 13 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my all-time favorites...
Having seen the film long before I read the book, I was excited. Circle of Friends had long been a favorite movie of mine. Read more
Published on Mar 28 2002 by bookboarder

4.0 out of 5 stars One of her best
Maeve Binchy has such a beautiful writing style - if you're familiar with her other work: Firefly Summer, Light a Penny Candle, etc. you won't be disappointed.
Published on Jan 30 2002 by L. Paris

4.0 out of 5 stars Binchy is a good storyteller
Despite their different backgrounds, Benny Hogan and Eve Malone are best friends while growing up in the small Irish town of Knockglen. Read more
Published on Jan 3 2002 by Karen Potts

5.0 out of 5 stars Holds up to a reread!
I just finished rereading this book for an online book group and have to say I loved it even more this time around!! The characters, the descriptions are timeless! Read more
Published on Oct 25 2001 by Cindy

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I ever read!!!
I absolutely adored this book! It had everything; rich discriptions, sadness, joy, love, betrayal, and especially the beautifully developed characters. Read more
Published on Aug 31 2001 by Jennifer Marie

1.0 out of 5 stars Save Your Money
I read Circle of Friends a few years ago when I was trapped with a poor book selection and too much time on my hands... so I read it from cover to cover. Read more
Published on Aug 24 2001 by klrouse

5.0 out of 5 stars Page turner
My new favorite book; I could not put it down. I hate to even tell the story line, but you will love it, trust me! Read more
Published on Aug 1 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars circle of friends
Fabulous, real, loving, with so many charachters to keep straight and to rush back and forth as thou you were actually there in the conversation is great! Read more
Published on July 14 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended!
While wandering through the library in search of a good summer novel, my fiance picked this book up for me. Read more
Published on July 13 2001

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