Evening Class (novel) a Dickensian way, they bump into each other and are affected by the decisions of those around them. It is a story of love and deceit, family drama, wealth and poverty, of friendship and courage. Nora O'Donoghue and Aidan Dunne also appear in "Quentins", another novel by Maeve Binchy, and play a more significant role in "Heart and Soul". The novel heavily inspired the plot of the Danish feature film "Italian for Beginners" (2000), which won a Silver Berlin Bear and several other major international awards. Maeve Binchy was not paid, credited nor informed of this, but was later paid
Blubber (novel) — Jill's very strict fifth grade teacher. Irwin — Jill's classmate. Catches Linda during the "Blubber Trial" when Linda tried to escape. According to Judy Blume in a short essay published in a recent reprint of the novel, the plot of "Blubber" was inspired by a very similar real-life incident involving her daughter's 5th grade class, in which one girl was singled out for torment by the class leader, who led her classmates in bullying her. "My daughter was the shy, quiet girl in the class, the observer, like Rochelle," Blume wrote. "She was upset by what was going on,