Showing results by narrator "Kate Binchy" in All Categories

By the schoolhouse at Shancarrig stands a copper Beech, its bark scarred with the names and dreams of the pupils who have grown up under its branches. Under Junior Assistant Mistress Maddy Ross' careful gaze the children play, but out of school Maddy's gaze lingers where it shouldn't. Maura Brennan, a bundle of fun from the rough end of town, plays with her pals.

Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather have decided to create the best catering company in Dublin. They have the perfect premises, heaps of talent, and even a few contacts - but not everyone seems as pleased by the idea of 'Scarlet Feather' as they are. Tom's parents are disappointed that he has turned his back on the family business. Cathy's husband buries himself in work, becoming ever more distant, whilst his mother thinks Cathy should stay at home to look after him.

As someone who fell off a chair not long ago trying to hear they what they were saying at the next table in a restaurant, I suppose I am obsessively interested in what some might consider the trivia of other people's lives'. Maeve Binchy is well known for her best-selling novels, the most recent of which was A Week in Winter. But for many years Maeve was a journalist, writing for The Irish Times.

Dee loves her children very much, but now they are all grown up, shouldn't they leave home? Rosie moved out when she got married, but it didn't work out, so now she is back with her parents. Helen is a teacher, and doesn't earn enough for a place of her own. Anthony writes songs, and is just waiting for the day when someone will pay him for them. Until then, all three are happy at home. It doesn't cost them anything, and surely their parents like having a full house?

Every Friday night, the same seven Dublin workers meet to travel home in Tom Fitzgerald's lilac-coloured minibus. Each of them needs to return regularly to Rathdoon: Nancy Morris, a real 'Miss Mouse', is known for her meanness and has to escape her flatmate's carping; Dee Burke is engrossed in her affair; Kev Kennedy has a side to his character hidden even from his family; Celis Ryan has to face her mother making a drunken exhibition of herself - and Tom has his reasons.

Mike Fisher has everything to live for: a stunning model girlfriend, who has just accepted his proposal, and a successful career as a computer programmer. So why would he suddenly resign, dress up in women's underwear and crash his car into a tree? And if he wanted to kill himself, why do it on his wedding day? His death is ruled as suicide, but his fiancée, Kim Drake, is sure there's more to it than meets the eye.

In a Greek tavern, high over the small village of Aghia Anna, four people meet for the first time: Fiona, an Irish nurse; Thomas, a Californian academic; Elsa, a German television presenter; and David, a shy English boy. Along with Andreas, the old man who runs the taverna, they become close to each other after witnessing a tragedy when a pleasure steamer catches fire in the harbour.<

In this extraordinary collection of stories, the world-wide best-selling author of Evening Class once again reveals her incomparable understanding of matters of the heart. In The Return Journey, Maeve Binchy creates powerful compelling stories of love, loss, revelation, and reconciliation.

A silver wedding means a family gathering - difficult occasions at the best of times. But for the Doyles - Deidre, Desmond, and their children, Anna, Helen, and Brendan - it will be more difficult than most. For each of them is keeping up a front; each of them is nursing a secret wound or smarting over a hidden betrayal. As the day draws nearer, so the tension mounts, until finally the guests gather at the silver wedding party itself....

A delectable collection of 22 short stories centred around people travelling on the London Underground. We meet a young couple travelling nervously to Seven Sisters for their first wife-swapping party; there's Annie's Pimlico Hotel, which is only open for specially chosen guests; Rita, the mysterious temp who lives in Notting Hill Gate; and Sophie, who runs a handbag shop at Marble Arch. All the stories have in common Maeve Binchy's delicious humour and warmth.

Here is a great gift of wisdom and humour for anyone coping with actual aches and pains. Based on the author's own experience as a hip-replacement patient, she provides funny insider advice about coping with the ordeals of surgery, a hospital stay, and at-home convalescence.

A society hostess entertains her husband's mistress to dinner; a country girl savours the delights of city life; a student faces the dilemma of unmarried pregnancy; and a drink-ridden photographer tries to relaunch his shattered career.A vintage collection of four stories set in the heart of Dublin's fashionable Southside, Dublin 4 has all of the author's intimate grasp of human feelings and her marvellous ear for dialogue.

This Year It Will be Different brings us the magic and spirit of Christmas in 15 stories filled with Maeve Binchy's trademark wit, charm, and sheer storytelling genius. Instead of nostalgia, Binchy evokes contemporary life; instead of Christmas homilies, she offers truth; and instead of sugarplums, she brings us the nourishment of holidays that precipitate change, growth, and new beginnings.

Scarlet Feather is set in contemporary Dublin, and is the story of Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather, who go into business together as caterers. Tom is the son of a builder and his fanatically devout wife, both of whom are disappointed that he hasn't joined the family building firm. Cathy's father is an inveterately optimistic gambler on the horses, and her mother, Lizzie, is a domestic cleaner.

When Danny Lynch tells his wife Ria that he has a young pregnant mistress, Ria thinks that her world has ended. Little does she know that within weeks a telephone call from America will open up a whole new world for her. Marilyn Vine, escaping from her own private demons, wants to exchange her house in Westville, New England, for a house in Dublin during a few summer weeks. Ria Lynch's big Victorian house in Tara Road is perfect.

Among the many evening classes starting all over Dublin is an "Introduction to Italian". On the surface, it could be just one of hundreds in which some students will succeed and some will fall along the way. But the Italian class at Mountainview School has its own special quality, and the hopes and dreams of so many people are tied up in the twice weekly lessons.

In this extraordinary collection of stories, the world-wide best-selling author of Evening Class once again reveals her incomparable understanding of matters of the heart. In The Return Journey, Maeve Binchy creates powerful, compelling stories of love, loss, revelation, and reconciliation.

Rory and Ita, Roddy Doyle's first nonfiction book, tells, largely in their own words, the story of his parents' lives from their first memories to the present. Born in 1923 and 1925 respectively, they met at a New Year's Eve dance in 1947 and married in 1951. They remember every detail of their Dublin childhoods, the people, the politics, idyllic times in the Wexford countryside for Ita, for Rory, his apprenticeship as a printer.

Every table at Quentins Restaurant has a thousand stories to tell: tales of love, betrayal and revenge. Ella Brady wants to make a documentary about the renowned Dublin restaurant that has captured the spirit of a generation and a city in the years it has been open. In Maeve Binchy's magical Quentins, you will meet new friends and old: the twins from Scarlet Feather , the signora from Evening Class, Ria from Tara Road - and a host of fresh faces.

Baby Frankie is born into an unusual family. Her mother is desperate to find someone to take care of her child and she doesn't have much time. Noel doesn't seem to be the most promising of fathers but despite everything, he could well be Frankie's best hope. As for Lisa, she is prepared to give up everything for the man she loves; surely he's going to love her back? And Moira is having none of it. She knows what's right, and has the power to change the course of Frankie's life....