Circle of Friends

I enjoyed the book and preferred the book ending over the movie ending.

Absolutely wonderful, I loved every bit of it.

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.