A Week in Winter Author: Visit Amazon's Maeve Binchy Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0307475506 | Format: PDF
A Week in Winter Description
From Booklist
Published posthumously, the late great Binchy’s last novel is an appropriately heartwarming and spirit-restoring swan song. In classic Binchy style, the gentle story is populated with a large cast of often eccentric, always endearing, characters who effortlessly weave their way in and out of a deceptively simple narrative. Stone House, a country inn on the West Coast of Ireland, is owned and operated by Chicky Starr, a Stoneybridge native lately returned after living a largely lonely life in the U.S., and it serves as the cozy setting for these interrelated tales of love, loss, friendship, and community. Specializing in winter holidays, Stone House plays host to a variety of guests whose lives are bound to change for the better once they succumb to both its vintage charms and the restorative powers of companionship and human kindness. Pour yourself a cup of tea, put your feet up, and prepare to savor this bit of comfort food for the soul. High-Demand Backstory: The late Binchy’s last hurrah does not disappoint; expect even more demand than usual for this final love letter to her legion of fans. --Margaret Flanagan
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Review
“Delightful. . . . Radiates the warmth and charm that fans will recognize and relish.” —USA Today
“A hopeful, loving novel chronicling lives shaped by good deeds, small favors, and honest counsel along the rocky crags of the Irish coast.” —The Daily Beast
“A gratifying, blustery read full of rich characters, a sea-spray setting and a compelling plot that carries the reader from start to end.” —Wichita Eagle
“Reading this novel is like ducking out of a cold rain into a fire-warmed pub filled with laughter.” —People
“If you read this book you will feel like you know every rock and view in Stoneybridge, and will likely wish you could visit this bleak-but-mesmerizing place, perhaps even in winter. . . . If you love Binchy's quiet stories, you will not be disappointed with this one.” —Huffington Post
“A restorative read.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Spell-binding. . . . Shows [Binchy] at the height of her powers.” —IrishCentral
“Maeve Binchy has once again created fully realized characters in quick, short strokes. . . . [The book contains] a philosophy of common sense and wisdom, both of which we’ve come to expect from Binchy.” —The Toronto Star
“All the characters spring to vivid life on the page, and all the stories are engaging.” —The Irish Times
“Heartwarming and spirit restoring. . . . In classic Binchy-style, the gentle story is populated with a large cast of often eccentric, always endearing characters. . . . Stone House, a country inn on the West Coast of Ireland serves as the cozy setting for these interrelated tales of love, loss, friendship, and community. . . . Pour yourself a cup of tea, put your feet up, and prepare to savor this bit of comfort food for the soul.” —Booklist
“Welcome territory for those looking for a feel-good read.” —Publishers Weekly
“Classic Binchy. . . . Peek[s] into the lives of characters from various walks of life brought together at a newly opened inn on the West Coast of Ireland.” —Kirkus Reviews
See all Editorial Reviews
- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Anchor; Reprint edition (January 7, 2014)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0307475506
- ISBN-13: 978-0307475503
- Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
I always fall into a book by Maeve Binchy like falling into a warm bed on
a snowy evening, enveloped in a gloriously cozy down duvet, the lamp on, a
warm drink to hand, ready to be swept away to a place of caring and compassion.
Her theme is always the same - people, confronted by difficulties in life, bad
luck or hard times, and how the choices they make lead to a better life, or one
that is (by their own actions) shut down and made smaller.
Ireland is not only the setting, it is also one of these characters - beautiful and
troubled, or glorious and hopeful; more likely all of these.
Maeve has died, and now that I have read this book, there is that sad realization
that there aren't going to be any new characters to meet - but I will be re-reading
all her books, including this one, which I think is one of the best.
If you are a fan of Maeve Binchy's works, you already know these characters, and
the plots. You know the place - only a small part of the book is set in Dublin; most
of it is in the West, in a village on the coast.
As usual, there are a mis-matched group of near-strangers, brought together for an arbitrary
occassion - this time it is the opening of a small inn - each with a life problem
that must be confronted (or, notably for one character, avoided) and how that
plays out.
The pleasure is in spending time with these people as they face up to their problems,
or fail to, and the understanding (and compassion) for people that Maeve always
shows.
I first read the late Ms. Binchy's works when I was a teenager several decades ago. Circle of Friends was the first Binchy book I read and its story of friendships, loyalty, heartbreak, and love was so well-told that I devoured as many of Ms. Binchy's works as I could. Since then, I have read each and every one of Ms. Binchy's works and have all of the titles in my home library. Her works are what I would describe as cozy reads yet they deal with family and relationship problems in a very down-to-earth manner, making the characters seem altogether real and each of the stories never failed to resonate with me, though admittedly some are better than others.
In Ms. Binchy's last novel (she died sometime last year), the setting is a coastal Irish village called Stoneybridge. Chicky is an Irish woman who followed her heart years ago and left for the States with a young American man named Walter who turned out to be too restless to be tied down and eventually leaves for greener pastures. Luckily Chicky's independent spirit refuses to be cowed by this and she finds a steady job and trains as a pastry chef while building on other skills. Back in Ireland, Chicky's family thinks she is doing well, unaware of what really happened and so when Chicky eventually returns to Stoneybridge, her family welcomes her as a prosperous 'widow'.
Chicky decides to buy the old manor house owned by Ms. Queenie Sheedy and converts it into a hotel which caters to people looking for some respite from their busy lives, people who just want to get away from it all. Like many of Ms. Binchy's books, the chapters in the book focus on one character at a time, both the guests as well as the people running the hotel, and explore each character's story. Fans of Ms.
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