We're live from Body & Soul Festival in Ireland talking Maeve Binchy's classic CIRCLE OF FRIENDS. This 700 page epic about a single academic school year is probably the most frequently spotted book on Irish shelves, and with good reason. We talk upwardly mobile Catholics in 1950s Ireland, the specific pains of being a Big Strapping Country lass in a Nan Mahon world, the exquisite world-building of Binchy's Ireland, and learning to embrace Irish fiction, clichés and all. Sarah Maria Griffin is the author of two novels, OTHER WORDS FOR SMOKE and SPARE & FOUND PARTS, and is the co-host of the podcast Juvenalia. This podcast was recorded at Body & Soul Festival, Westmeath. Artwork by Gavin Day, music by Harry Harris, produced by Caroline O'Donoghue and mixed by Hannah Varrall.

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