CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

Dear Morgan,

I’M ENJOYING my new tutoring position. There is a fairly large population of international students at the school and the girls I teach are hard-working, intelligent, and wonderfully kind young women. I’m immensely fortunate to work with them every day.

One of my students, Elsie, seems to be having trouble adjusting to American boarding school, though. She’s from Rwanda and is an extremely warmhearted and curious girl, but some of the other tutors have told me she doesn’t have many friends and often eats lunch alone. My heart goes out to her — both you and I have known the loneliness of being a young woman in an unfamiliar place.

I wanted to do whatever I could to help her and, quite predictably, I turned to books.

I thought back to a time when I felt much like Elsie does now. I was midway through my college degree programme and spent my bus commutes to and from the university reading Maeve Binchy’s Circle of Friends. I found all of my doubts, questions, thoughts, and emotions reflected in between the pages of that book, so it may come as no surprise to you that I gave Elsie my one and only copy of Circle of Friends, hoping it would ease her worries about boarding school life.

You should have seen her face when I handed her the book and explained to her that the characters — Benny, Eve, and Nan – all go through transitional experiences in the story and come out stronger than ever in the end. The very next day when we met in my classroom, Elsie told me she had already started the book and was looking forward to reading it every night before bed, especially because she could relate to the characters.

I could tell by her enthusiasm that giving her my beloved copy was not done in vain.

Soon after she started reading, Elsie befriended one of my other students, Diana, and they have formed a sweet bond. Now, she’s comfortable discussing her favourite books with Diana, and I am delighted to know she always includes Circle of Friends at the top of her list. I can’t help but think that reading Binchy’s novel inspired Elsie to take a leap of faith to form a lasting friendship.

Reading Circle of Friends didn’t change who Elsie is, but I’m certain it changed how she interprets her place in the world.

Most importantly, I think it made her realise her own value, and that the friendship she offers is worth the time, attention, care and investment of others. It’s amazing what power books hold. They inspire courage and, in this case, eradicated the bitter sting of loneliness from the life of (more than one!) young woman.

I bought another copy of Circle of Friends after giving mine to Elsie. You’re welcome to borrow it any time you like!