--- product_id: 135663669 title: "Circle of Friends: A Novel" price: "€ 13.26" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 12 url: https://www.desertcart.it/products/135663669-circle-of-friends-a-novel store_origin: IT region: Italy --- # Circle of Friends: A Novel **Price:** € 13.26 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Circle of Friends: A Novel - **How much does it cost?** € 13.26 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.it](https://www.desertcart.it/products/135663669-circle-of-friends-a-novel) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Circle of Friends: A Novel - Kindle edition by Binchy, Maeve. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Circle of Friends: A Novel. Review: The ultimate comfort read: a heart-warming, emotionally gratifying & rewarding experience - "Circle of Friends" is to me what "The Baronetage" is to Sir Walter Elliot in "Persuasion". :) "...there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were aroused into admiration and respect, ... there any unwelcome sensations ... changed into pity and contempt." This book is about friendship, love, betrayal, growing up, learning to fight for what is important & learning to let go. The story takes us to 1957 when Benny (Mary Bernadette) Hogan & Eve Malone are to leave (or are they?) the safe, but limited boundaries of their small Irish hometown of Knockglen -where everyone knows everyone- for the "big, dangerous" city of Dublin. Benny, an awkward (because she is big and tall), but infinitely kind and funny girl is an only daughter to well-meaning, but elderly parents, who don't seem to realise that she is growing up into a woman. Although they are willing to pay for a university education (strictly Catholic, of course) for Benny, their own plan includes her returning to Knockglen afterwards & marrying her father's assistant (they have a struggling gentlemen's outfit shop), the unappealing, slimy & calculating Sean Walsh. Eve is an orphan, brought up by the nuns of the Knockglen Catholic Convent (lead by the wonderful, practical Mother Francis), after her late mother's upper-class (Anglo-Irish) family rejects her because she married a low-class, Catholic handyman. She has no funds for university, unless she learns to overcome her pride & ask the Westwards to pay her tuition fee. In Dublin they meet handsome, popular Jack Foley, cinnamon roll of the University & beautiful, cool Nan Mahon, who is playing a dangerous & ruthless game to get away from her aggressive, drunken father's house both geographically and socially & to land a rich and upper class husband. The scene is also enriched by a set of very well drawn supporting characters both from the big city & the small town and you cannot help to laugh, cheer, curse or cry as the story unfolds. Review: Quintessential Binchy - This book encapsulates all the reasons people read Maeve Binchy. It is a tale set in 1950's Ireland about a group of young people going to college in Dublin and about all their extended families and friends. It deals with life and relationships in a true Binchy fashion and lacks the rushed endings and wild character changes (for the most part) that her other novels have. It is also "Early Binchy," so no Quentins or St. Jarleth's crescent or any of the other things that show up in her later novels. It does have other Binchy tropes such as the femme fatale (Nan), the handsome but undependable rakes (Jack and Simon), and the noble and good females that are betrayed by said rakes and femme fatales (Benny, Kit Hegarty, etc). However the novel is a good, plot-light character study that shows a bit of how life was like in the 50's in Ireland when the country was starting to change into modern times and out of strict Catholic hierarchy. Binchy is good at weaving characters together in a cozy, enjoyable way that make her novels good reading though not heavy stuff. I won't give it a full five stars as the novel is somewhat draggy and repetitive at times but is still a good read and worth checking out. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | ASIN | B000YE97VU | | Accessibility | Learn more | | Best Sellers Rank | #54,074 in Kindle Store ( See Top 100 in Kindle Store ) #92 in British & Irish Literary Fiction #279 in Romance Literary Fiction #464 in Contemporary Literary Fiction | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (8,422) | | Edition | 1st | | Enhanced typesetting | Enabled | | File size | 2.4 MB | | ISBN-13 | 978-0440337614 | | Language | English | | Page Flip | Enabled | | Print length | 610 pages | | Publication date | September 4, 2007 | | Publisher | Dell | | Screen Reader | Supported | | Word Wise | Enabled | | X-Ray | Enabled | ## Images ![Circle of Friends: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51d0xEIRrRL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The ultimate comfort read: a heart-warming, emotionally gratifying & rewarding experience *by M***O on April 22, 2017* "Circle of Friends" is to me what "The Baronetage" is to Sir Walter Elliot in "Persuasion". :) "...there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were aroused into admiration and respect, ... there any unwelcome sensations ... changed into pity and contempt." This book is about friendship, love, betrayal, growing up, learning to fight for what is important & learning to let go. The story takes us to 1957 when Benny (Mary Bernadette) Hogan & Eve Malone are to leave (or are they?) the safe, but limited boundaries of their small Irish hometown of Knockglen -where everyone knows everyone- for the "big, dangerous" city of Dublin. Benny, an awkward (because she is big and tall), but infinitely kind and funny girl is an only daughter to well-meaning, but elderly parents, who don't seem to realise that she is growing up into a woman. Although they are willing to pay for a university education (strictly Catholic, of course) for Benny, their own plan includes her returning to Knockglen afterwards & marrying her father's assistant (they have a struggling gentlemen's outfit shop), the unappealing, slimy & calculating Sean Walsh. Eve is an orphan, brought up by the nuns of the Knockglen Catholic Convent (lead by the wonderful, practical Mother Francis), after her late mother's upper-class (Anglo-Irish) family rejects her because she married a low-class, Catholic handyman. She has no funds for university, unless she learns to overcome her pride & ask the Westwards to pay her tuition fee. In Dublin they meet handsome, popular Jack Foley, cinnamon roll of the University & beautiful, cool Nan Mahon, who is playing a dangerous & ruthless game to get away from her aggressive, drunken father's house both geographically and socially & to land a rich and upper class husband. The scene is also enriched by a set of very well drawn supporting characters both from the big city & the small town and you cannot help to laugh, cheer, curse or cry as the story unfolds. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Quintessential Binchy *by M***J on July 17, 2015* This book encapsulates all the reasons people read Maeve Binchy. It is a tale set in 1950's Ireland about a group of young people going to college in Dublin and about all their extended families and friends. It deals with life and relationships in a true Binchy fashion and lacks the rushed endings and wild character changes (for the most part) that her other novels have. It is also "Early Binchy," so no Quentins or St. Jarleth's crescent or any of the other things that show up in her later novels. It does have other Binchy tropes such as the femme fatale (Nan), the handsome but undependable rakes (Jack and Simon), and the noble and good females that are betrayed by said rakes and femme fatales (Benny, Kit Hegarty, etc). However the novel is a good, plot-light character study that shows a bit of how life was like in the 50's in Ireland when the country was starting to change into modern times and out of strict Catholic hierarchy. Binchy is good at weaving characters together in a cozy, enjoyable way that make her novels good reading though not heavy stuff. I won't give it a full five stars as the novel is somewhat draggy and repetitive at times but is still a good read and worth checking out. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A beautiful book of friendships *by G***G on March 12, 2025* Meave Binchy brings a disparate cast of characters together and gives them such distictive and interesting personalities I feel as if Ive known them and cared for them all my life! A pleasure read for sure! --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.it/products/135663669-circle-of-friends-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.it/products/135663669-circle-of-friends-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart Italy* *Store origin: IT* *Last updated: 2026-05-09*