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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
I almost want to give this book a four star review because I would read it again. Except that I only want to read it again because there were like 40 characters, all interesting, and all of their stories were left kind of hanging. Each chapter is one small story told from the point of view of two different people involved in the story. I really liked how the author was able to make each story and the characters engaging and interesting, but it seemed more like a book of short stories, but where none of them felt concluded. Only the first, middle, and last chapters were about the same group of people.
I pulled this book off of our bookshelf and found a Borders receipt from 2009! It's hard to believe it sat for 8 years. I absolutely adored everything about this book. I just love the way Maeve Binchey could develop a character and a plot before a page was out. God bless her memory!!!
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It's more of a compilation of short stories
I think this is the first book I’ve read by Maeve Binchy and admit I rather enjoyed it. It reads like a series of short stories with the narrator changing at each chapter yet the story tells the story of a town debating if a bypass should go thru their town and ruin the wishing well. I really enjoyed the depth of each character but was not satisfied with the resolution of a few of the stories.
This was a collection of stories about people living in and around Rossmore, Whitethorn Woods, and St Ann's Well. They were, supposedly, brought together when a new highway threatens to bypass the town.
The book was more about the personal lives of each of the characters. I did not see the "passionate opinion" the jacket indicated about the book.
Not a favorite Maeve Binchy of mine. I gave it three stars because, even though I did not enjoy the story, the classic Maeve Binchy writing style was there. Her descriptions of the characters and the roles they played made you believe they were folks you knew, or could easily meet.
The book was more about the personal lives of each of the characters. I did not see the "passionate opinion" the jacket indicated about the book.
Not a favorite Maeve Binchy of mine. I gave it three stars because, even though I did not enjoy the story, the classic Maeve Binchy writing style was there. Her descriptions of the characters and the roles they played made you believe they were folks you knew, or could easily meet.
I have been wanting to read this... then as I'm reading it I realize everything is familiar and I *have* read it! Oops. Binchy changes up her style a little in that each chapter is about a different person. Each character has a central connection to this town, woods, and "holy" fountain, but that's about it. It's almost a book of short stories. Only the one about the priest is told in third person... the rest in first person. Oh, and often you would read the story about one person, then the next story had to do with another main character of the previous person's story. You got a couple of perspectives on one story that way, and that was nice. I liked this book overall quite a bit.
The short stories that are only slightly related got hard to keep getting into.
Crafted in an interesting manner, sort of a series of vignettes that all intertwine together and center on one town. Well done in Binchey's beloved manner of writing. You are drawn into the stories and forget for a moment that you are not yourself a resident of the Irish towns she writes about.
As my favorite author, I often find it incredibly difficult to objectively rate and review Binchy's novels, but in this case my rating was fairly easy to determine. In many ways I had the same problem with this "novel" that I did with both The Lilac Bus and The Copper Beech - it lacked a true central narrative that I could allow myself to become absorbed in, which is something I've always enjoyed about so many of her other books (Tara Road, Firefly Summer, Light a Penny Candle...). While I appreciated that each of the vignettes focused on two characters, thus giving two sides to an individual story, the attempt to connect them together with the over-arching debate surrounding Rossmore, the new road, St. Ann's Well, and Father Flynn's dilemma was ultimately too tenuous, and I often found myself having to flip back through the book to remember which characters belonged to which story and had relationships with each other. Overall, while as usual I enjoyed Binchy's authentic style and characters, this is one that I don't see myself wanting to revisit, but would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading collections of short stories.