Search - Echoes

I keep telling myself, enough of Maeve Binchy. There’s something repetitive and regular about her stories. They’re long, reflect the class differences in Ireland, discuss small mindedness of small towns. There’s often description of the differences between the small town and city mentality, boys vs. girls, good girls vs. �bad� girls. She always takes a long approach – following the stories of the main characters over years of change – some change is internal, some is forced on them by outside circumstances.

Yet, I continue to read her books. There’s a love of the characters, a sense that these are real people and that she’s just relating their life stories. You know what to expect, sort of, but the way she writes is sweet and loving. You can get involved in people’s lives – sort of watching through a one way glass – and enjoy their blessings and even their sorrows.

This is an early book – written in 1985. It is lovely, standard Maeve Binchy.

One of Binchy's best...love this story.

A story of desolation,determination,and the hard work required to both rise above one's birth circumstances and fulfill one's destiny. The lives of Clare, Angela, and David are intertwined in the small sea side village, but there were proper ways to behave in the late 1950's and early 1960's in Ireland. The book tells what happens when each character's flaws are revealed. This was a great read!

I gave up on this one really early. The writing was not at all appealing to me, I couldn't get through the first chapter.

lovely story about a small town, a poor girl loving a wealthy boy...great Binchy book!

As with all Binchy's novels it takes a while to get into the story, her characters are so well developed that sometimes that development seems to make the story drag, but she always gets you hooked. This one is no exception.