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Mae Holland is a recent college graduate looking to make her place in the world. She is from a small town in California and comes from a middle-class working family. Mae is an only child. After college, the only job she can find is with a utility company in her hometown, where she works for eighteen months, bitterly resenting the stultifying atmosphere there. When her college friend, Annie, gets her a job at the Circle, a leading tech company, Mae’s world is completely changed. She’s now at the forefront of the tech world and holds an enviable place among her peers. Mae’s parents now consider her an adult, and she rises quickly within the ranks of the company, eager to do good and prove herself. Mae’s insecurities and undeveloped sense of identity, however, leave her prey to the Circle’s ends, which aim to make everything and everyone fully “transparent,” in a bid to gain political and economic control. Mae’s experiences at the Circle give her recognition and affirmation, but it comes at the cost of her relationships and her privacy. She becomes estranged from her parents, her ex-boyfriend Mercer, and her closest friend, Annie, as the Circle slowly subsumes her within its ideological ranks.

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