Circle of Friends

A Novel

By: Maeve Binchy

Narrated by: Fionnula Flanagan

It began with Benny Hogan and Eve Malone, growing up, inseparable, in the village of Knockglen. Benny--the only child, yearning to break free from her adoring parents... Eve--the orphaned offspring of a convent handyman and a rebellious blueblood, abandoned by her mother's wealthy family to be raised by nuns. Eve and Benny--they knew the sins and secrets behind every villager's lace curtains...except their own.

It widened at Dublin, at the university where Benny and Eve met beautiful Nan Mahlon and Jack Foley, a doctor's handsome son. But heartbreak and betrayal would bring the worlds of Knockglen and Dublin into explosive collision. Long-hidden lies would emerge to test the meaning of love and the strength of ties held within the fragile gold bands of a... Circle Of Friends.©1991 Maeve Binchy; (P)1991 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“[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

An excellent book, but ...

This is one of my favorite books, and I couldn't find the audio version anywhere but here. The audio would be perfect but the sound quality is the lowest possible. This audio tape only came out in 1999 - I wonder why they weren't able to clean it up any more than that?
I still bought and enjoyed it, though - just be aware it's got really poor quality audio.

Terrible audio

The story is wonderful, but the quality of the audio is terrible. It's hard to hear, muffled and staticky at times.

A bit of an old favorite

I wish it was the whole novel. so much of the richness was lost here.

Not as good as her other books.

I thought the story here was a little weak. The characters were difficult to understand as they developed. Mostly I wasn’t happy with the performance. It was difficult to understand and the volume was way too low

abridged!

One of my favorite Binchy books but this abridged version is overly produced and poorly abridged. I wish there was a full length audio version of this delightful book.