Circle of Friends Chapter Summary & Analysis | Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Summary

In 1958, best friends Eve Malone and Benny Hogan leave the small town of Knockglen, Ireland to go to the university in Dublin. Their encounters with Jack Foley and Nan Mahon teach them about true friendship.

Benny arrives home from school to smells of cooking. Benny and Patsy talk about the birthday cake for her tenth birthday. Benny asks what Patsy did when she was ten. Patsy answers that all the days were the same in the orphanage. Benny's mother Annabel returns. Benny cannot find out from Patsy or her mother what they got for her birthday. Benny wants to know if her father will be there for cake. Annabel says he will because by the time the cake is served, her father will have closed his business. Benny's father Eddie owns Hogan's Outfitters, a menswear shop in Knockglen. Benny hopes her present will be a velvet dress and cute...
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