18 April 2016

Review: A FEW OF THE GIRLS, Maeve Binchy

  • this edition published by Orion Publishing in 2015
  • ISBN 978-1-4091-6142-4
  • 404 pages, 
  • source: my local library
Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

'The Irish do love telling stories, and we are suspicious of people who don't have long, complicated conversations. There used to be a rule in etiquette books that you should invite four talkers and four listeners to a dinner party. That doesn't work in Ireland, because nobody knows four listeners' Maeve Binchy

Maeve Binchy's multi-million-copy-selling novels not only tell wonderful stories, they also give an insight in to how Ireland has changed over the decades, but how people remain the same: they still fall in love, sometimes unsuitably; they still have hopes and dreams; they have deep, long-standing friendships, and some that fall apart. From her earliest writing to her most recent, Maeve's work has included wonderfully nostalgic pieces and also sharp, often witty writing which is insightful and topical.

But at the heart of all Maeve's fiction are the people and their relationships with each other. A FEW OF THE GIRLS is a glorious collection of the very best of her stories, full of the warmth, charm and humour that has always been an essential part of all of Maeve's writing.

My Take

There are 41 short stories in this collection, mainly focussing on women and relationships. Some are set in Ireland, some in London, but in most of them the central figure finds out something new about herself or a friend.  Each of the stories is very different and individual, and I can honestly say I enjoyed them all. I was sorry as the end of the collection approached.

I read this book simply because a friend recommended it, and I wanted to read something outside the crime fiction genre.

You'll notice that I have used the label "new to me". I am sure I read some Maeve Binchy somewhere in the past, but certainly not in the history of this blog.

If you are a dabbler in your reading, then this book would work very well at the rate of a story or two a day.

My rating: 4.6

1 comment:

Irene said...

I'm presently reading Maeve's Glass Lake it's a chunckster, some 600 pages. I love how not a whole lot happens and yet so many lives are affected. Love Maeve, it my go to when Agatha is too high on the shelf.

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