SUMMARY OF NOVEL CIRCLE OF FRIENDS BY MAEVE BINCHY

NAME      : MIFTAHUDIN

NIM         : 932206412

CLASS    : D

SUMMARY OF NOVEL

CIRCLE OF FRIENDS BY MAEVE BINCHY

It began with two closed friends, they were Benny Hogan and Eve Malone. Benny lived with her parents, Annabel and Eddie Hogan, while Eve had been raised by the nuns at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Her mother had died in childbirth, and her father died shortly thereafter in an accident. Today is Benny’s 10th birthday, and Patsy,someone who had reared by Benny’s family from orphanage, was so busy to make a cake for Benny’s birthday. When Benny and Patsy were talking about the Patsy’s life when she was still at the orphanage, suddenly, Benny’s mother was coming after she prepared Benny’s birthday party. Then, Benny’s mother helped Patsy to prepare the cake while waiting for Benny’s father coming home to get a cake. It made Benny was happy because it was the time to get a present. Benny invited some people who had been recognized by her, such as seven girls from her school, Maire Carroll whose mother and father owned the grocery, Dr. Jonhson’s children and so on. And she didn’t forget to invite her best friend, Eve. 

At school next day, Mr. Kennedy, who was Benny’s chemist’s teacher and her parents’ friend, called her to meet him. He knew that yesterday was Benny’s birthday. He remembered when Benny’s was born in ten years ago. He knew that her parents’ wanted to get a son but in a fact they got a daughter. By hearing that Benny was sad and thought why I wasn’t a boy, but her sadness was lost when Mr. Kennedy gave her a present, that was a pack of barley sugar for Benny. It made her overwhelmed and said thanks to him. She left Mr. Kennedy and went away to go to her class. Not too long, Benny and Eve would finish their study at the school. And they had a planning to continue their study in the Dublin together. They were so happy because they could be together forever.

When Benny and Eve had finished their study, and had been near to Dublin, each under different circumstances was to be obstacle. While Benny’s parents had saved enough money to send her to the University College of Dublin, with a demand that she had to return home to Knockglen each night. In other hand Mother Francis, who led the convent and loved Eve as like herown daughter, had made many attempts, she had no money to send Eve to college so it had been arranged for her to live at a Dublin convent while doing a secretarial course. Benny was so sad because she didn’t know what she should do without her best friend, Eve. But luckily was together with Eve, because Eve wasable to attend university afterher cousin, Simon Westward, agreed to pay her tuition. It made Benny and Eve happy. 

A freak accident on the first day of college took the life of student Frank Hegarty and injured Eve, it happened when Benny and Eve wanted to cross the traffic light, and they saw the skid, a boy on the motorbike, out of control and plowing toward the sedate black Morris Minor. It all seemed like slow motion, the way the boy fell and the bike swerved and skidded. How the car tried to avoid it and how both motorbike and car came sideways into group of pedestrians crossing the wet street. Eve heard Benny cried out, and she saw her face frozen as the car came toward her. Eve lost consciousness, she was pinned by the car to thelamppost. She injured and beside her lay the body of the boy Frank Hegarty, who was already dead. 

Then, all people who knew about that accident brought the victims to the nearby hospital in order to get handling son, so their life would be safe. One of the injured people was Eve, a big, soft-faced girl with chestnut-colored hair and dark, sensible clothes, seemed very agitated about the one lying unconscious on the ground. Lucky Eve, she had opened her eyes and she would be fine soon. Eve had got some treatment in the hospital to recover her injury so she had been hospitalized. By getting the accident, it also brought the girls together with fellow students Nan Mahon and Jack Fogerty. Nan was stunningly beautiful and, encouraged by her mother, harbors plans to escape her modest home and alcoholic father by marrying well and Jack was the charming, handsome son of a local doctor. They began their meeting when Jack wanted to know about the accident which was happened in the traffic light near the hospital. At that time, Jack came into Benny and Nan to ask about the accident. And that was the first time their meeting.

A week later, the body of Frank Hegarty was brought to the church in Dun Laoghaire. Nan went to the funeral party of Frank and also Jack. But they didn’t look Benny there, and Nan said that Benny went home every evening by bus so she couldn’t come to the funeral party in the church. After attending in the funeral party, Nan met Benny in the hospital to visit Eve. Benny wanted Eve to like Nan, to recognize her. Nan hadn’t brought flowers, grapes, or a magazine instead she had brought the one thing that Eve truly wanted, a College handbook. They talked about their study in the College while they laughed each other. Benny wished Eve really liked Nan so they would be friends. 

In the next day, Benny met Nan to have a drink in the Annexe as they did every morning. Benny said that Eve was going to be home today, and Nan had known about it because Eve had told to her last night. Nan knew the condition of Eve well, Nan knew that Eve wanted friend to accompany and see her condition since in the hospital. Listen about that, Benny was sure that Eve and Nan would be friend. After talking a long time in the cafe, Nan remained Benny that they had a class at twelve o’clock and they had to go to class because it was the lesson of the big lecturer in their university. Suddenly, a boy said that the Debating Society on a Saturday night was great. The boys wanted to invite Nan to go there together but Nan rejected.Jack Foley and Aidan Lynch decided to go to Debating Society on a Saturday night. It was held in the big Physics Theatre, and was fairly rowdy, despite the dinner jackets worn by the committee and the visiting speakers. As they stood at the doorway watching, Aidan saw Nan Mahon in the centre of crowd. They admired the beauty of Nan, they thought each other that Nan loved one of  them. They wanted to make dating with Nan.
Nan had announced to her family that she would study in her room from now on, removing herself from her father's drunken rages, and despite his objections, she charms him into accepting the situation. Meanwhile, Eve settledinto Kit's home and the two became closer. Jack's father had been asked to consult with an old friend who lived in Knockglen and was ill, and Jack agreed to accompany him, calling Benny to see if he could see her while his father was busy with his patient. When Nan learnd about this, she helpd Benny fix herself up, although Benny insisted that it was a date, thinking that Jack would never be attracted to her.

When Jack arrived, the Hogans served a very nice tea and Benny showed him around the town and he was fascinated with it. At the end of the day, he gave Benny a love letter that made her so happy. In that letter, Jack would ask Benny to have lunch with him every Thursday. She didn’t believe that Jack liked her.
Benny decided to be thin on Thursday week. She would have hollows in her cheeks and a long narrow neck. It would, of course, involve eating nothing. She thought that was not easy to do it. She had to avoid eating cream and brown sugar, she had to avoid eating sausage in the lunchtime, and she wanted to try wearing corset as like Mrs. Healy. She thought if she looked so gorgeous that everyone would look and Jack Foley would be proud and pleased that he had asked her to do dating. Benny seldom had a lunch because of she wanted to lost her weight so Eve and Nan went to the cafe for lunchtime without Benny. Thursday arrived. Benny looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She stared long and hard. There was a possibility that she had lost some weight around her shoulders. Only a possibility, and even if it were true what a useless place o lose it. Benny made up herself to be more beautiful than before.

Peggy Pine's niece Clodagh arrived to help Peggy in the dress shop, and she caused a stir in Knockglen because of her short skirts and outlandish style. As a big college dance approached, Jack and the other boys ask Benny, Eve, Nan, and the other girls to go with them in a large group, preceded by a party at Jack's house. Benny's mother gave her an outfit to wear to the dance, but it needd altering. When Benny asked Clodagh to help, she redesigned the top to show Benny's ample cleavage. Eve dreaded taking Heather for an outing, but she was surprised when she had a good time. Benny continued to go to movies with Sean, but she was able to handle his advances successfully to thanks to advice from Nan.

The day seemed very long. Benny met Eve, they went out to Dun Laoghaire on five o’clocl train. Eve and Benny nudgeg each other i pleasure to be part of a different world.a world of going to a big Dress Dance, as part of a big, glittering circle. Eve said that Kit would have sandwiches for them, but Benny was still in her diet so she rejected to eat sandwich. Kit was adamant. She wasn’t going to have them fainting at the dance, and anyway the food had to be digested and turned into fat, and there wouldn’t be time to happen. The dance was a success every year. This year the organizers seemed to think it was better than ever. They measured these things by enthusiasm. The spot prizes were very well.

Clodagh and Fonsie worked to update and improved their families' respective businesses. Sean began a friendship with Mrs. Healy, who ran the hotel in Knockglen. When Clodagh and Fonsie went to the hotel for a drink, Mrs. Healy refused to serve them because she did not like the way they look, which caused everyone in Knockglen to take one side or the other. Benny was nervous before her lunch with Jack, but the afternoon went well, and she was thrilled when he kissed her hand several times, leading her to believe that perhaps he was interested in her after all. She returned to Knockglen feeling very happy and satisfied.
Simon invited himself to Eve's next outing with Heather and triedto ask about Nan, but Eve evaded his questions. Later, Nan also questionedEve about Simon, she but got the same action from Eve. Although Eve hadn’t given the information about both of them, Nan and Simon could met the moment that she and Benny were led into dining room. Nan asked the waiter to give them in the central table. Three of them had been kidding while waiting for the food to be served. Nan and Simon looked at each other because they have special feeling each other, it was love.

The people of Knockglen celebrated Christmas, and Sean was glad to have been invited to lunch at the Hogans' home. Patsy, their housekeeper, told Benny that her parents expected her to marry Sean, but Benny thought this couldn’t still be true because business at the shop was poor. Money was tight. On Christmas Day, Jack phoned to say how much he missed Benny. Benny talked to Sean about her hopes and dreams of living in Dublin and about her relationship with Jack, but Sean insisted that she simply had a crush on Jack, and it was unlikely to last. Later, Sean approached Mr. Hogan about being made a partner in the business and said he would leave if it did not happen. Mrs. Walsh, the housekeeper at Westlands, reflected to herself that Simon had found a woman in England that he apparently hoped to marry her. But, Simon had had a new girlfriend it was Nan Mahon.

Benny looked around her father's shop and thought about improvements that could be made, but she did not let Sean know she suspected him of stealing. She also looked at the rooms above the store and realized they could be made into a nice apartment. Jack asked Benny to go to Wales for the weekend with him, but she refused. She was disappointed when he did not call from the trip and after he returned, she learned that he cheated on her while he was away. Although Benny arranged to spend one night each week in Dublin, tensions continued with Jack over her lack of availability. Nan's mother realized she had met someone and warned her to be careful, but Nan assuredthat she had no intention of sleeping with the man she was seeing. However, she had slept with Simon at a hotel. Since they had special relationship between them.

Nan realizedthat she was pregnant. When she went to Westlands to tell Simon, she was very surprised because Simon didn’t want to marry her. Even, he gave her money for an abortion and made it clear that their relationship was over. Nan took the bus back to Dublin, changed clothes, and searched the pubs until she finds the guys in her group. In the meantime, Benny’s father died suddenly, and she felt the need to spend more time in Knockglen, which frustrated Jack because there was no Benny beside him anymore and Benny had forgotten that she did plan to be in town that night to attend a party in Dublin. So, Nan took an advantage of the situation and began secretly seeing Jack. Then, they decided to attend a dance together that evening, and Benny spent the evening with Eve. The following day, Benny ran into Jack, and he apologized for forgetting that she was in town. When he told her he went to the dance with Nan, she was very relieved, thinking she had nothing to worry about. Until Jack told that Nan was pregnant and implied that she was a virgin when they began sneaking around and sleeping together. He had to obligate to marry her, it really broke the Benny’ heart because Jack said that he would engage Nan soon. So Benny had to be willing Jack to married with Nan.

Benny told Eve about the situation with Jack and Nan. Eve was furious and unforgiving, but Benny clung to the idea that he still loved her. Eve insisted that they went out immediately and told their friends, which she thought she would make things easier for Benny in the long run. Everyone was shocked and was upset, and they began to plan for their marriage. In the middle of their planning for Jack and Nan’s married, suddenly, Benny, Eve, and Nan's mother all wonder whether Simon could be the baby's father and where they could have gone to have sex, but none share their suspicious with anyone else. Becuse as they knoew that recently the Nan’s boyfriend was Simon not Jack. But they couldn’t do anything to delay that wedding party. so the engangement party would be held. 

At a party, Eve realized what happened and confronted Nan, who fell into a glass door and was seriously injured. She had to recover soon, then Nan was brought to the hospital. She got treatment, so she was out of danger. She had received several blood transfusions and there had been a time when her heartbeat had slowed down, causing alarm. But she was young and healty. It was wonderful, the recupative powers of the young. At that time, Nan told to Jack the true story for her pregnancy, she said that she was pregnant because of Simon not Jack. Because Simon didn’t want to marry her and ended their relationship, Nan was confused wahat she should do, so she had an adea to trap Jack in order Jack wanted to marry Nan and her baby would have a father. And then, She endedher relationship with Jack. And Nan apologized to Jack taht she had trapped him. Hearing that story, Jack met Benny to tell what the true happen was. Jack wanted to repair their realntionship before, but she had now moved beyond her obsession with him and was able to see him simply as a member of their circle of friends. So between Jack and Benny now just to be a friend not more.