Circle of Friends, Maeve Binchy (Delacorte, 1991) ****

This story is set in contemporary Ireland. Some of you may have seen the movie of the same title which made the rounds last year. The book is even better (isn't it usually?). The main character, Benny, is, the only daughter of a small merchant in the village of Knockglen, near Dublin. She and her childhood friend, Eve, who was raised as an orphan by the nuns at a convent nearby, go off together to University College in Dublin. Eve, attractive and outgoing compared to the plain and introverted Benny, draws them into a "circle of friends" at the college, where their relationship to each other is complicated by various student romances and personal backgrounds that are not what they first seem. The characters are richly portrayed, and the unveiling of their unexpected backgrounds drive a complex plot that will keep you interested to the last page.