Circle of Friends
Maeve Binchy
 Benny, who was "large-boned obese girl", "soft like a cake hard like a rock", and an "adored" only daughter, and Eve, the wiry orphan brought up by the nuns, are best friends in the small fictitious Irish town of Knockglen. On their first day at the University College in Dublin, an accident brings the two characters together with fellow students named Nan Mahon and Jack Foley, and new friendships are quickly forged. But later on during the story, trouble occurs for the characters. Benny (the "good-natured clown" of the group) always seems to draw the short straw in life, while Nan (selfish and attractive) takes what she wants without expecting to pay for it. Eve (intensely loyal to Benny, and resentful of Nan’s careless optimism) becomes obsessed with the need to avenge Benny’s disappointments.