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Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy, Frans Thomése, René Huigen

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suzeclark's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

photopoppy's review against another edition

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3.0

This was a quick read. Follows the coming of age of a set of friends in and near Dublin in the late 1950s. Overall, a character driven book, which I enjoy - it was the personalities of the people that pulled the story forward, not the circumstances they found themselves in. However, I did have some problesm with the believability of the characters and their motivations - in particular, I'm left scratching my head and wondering what exactly drew Simon to Nan - he's characterized as 30-ish, she's not quite 20. Sure, she's beautiful and dresses like an heiress, but it didn't really seem to be enough to drive their relationship forward.

I was disappointed with Jack's character at the end of the book - I really wanted Binchy to leave him a better person with more hope of improvement than she did.

kba76's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I vaguely recall the movie of this coming out, but had no idea what it was about. I picked this up not knowing what to expect, and while some of the story details are quite apparent I did find it an engaging read.
The main characters our attention is focused on are those of Benny Hogan and Eve Malone. Very different girls, physically, but alike in terms of their sense of fun and outlook on life. Living in their sheltered village they both dream of escaping rural life and heading to Dublin to form a new life. As the only daughter of a struggling shop owner Benny is accustomed to her parents being a little protective of her. She is all too aware that they harbour secret dreams that Benny will fall in love with the odious Sean Walsh, their assistant. However, Benny wants nothing more than to head to Dublin to study. Her best friend, Eve Malone, was brought up by nuns and has always felt keenly the loss of her family - wealthy woman scandalises family by running off with a local handyman. Eve wants nothing to do with her family, but is prepared to swallow her pride if it means she will have the opportunity to follow her dreams.
Upon their arrival in Dublin the girls have very different experiences. We follow them as they form new friendships, develop as characters and come up against some of the prejudices that I suppose were common at the time.
There was a grim sense of inevitability to the story. You could see how some of the strands might play out, and yet there was a fondness and warmth to these two that was hard not to love.

amethyst_hearts_books's review against another edition

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4.0

This was really good. I liked the way Benny developed as the story went on, and how Binchy included the development of a lot of other characters, too.