A Week in Winter
1 journaler for this copy...
I was so sad to hear of Maeve Binchy's death last year. I've been reading her books ever since I discovered her short stories on a trip to Ireland in 1989. I'm glad there is one more book and my lovely husband gave it to me for our 19th wedding anniversary.
This book is formulaic Binchy, but that's not a bad thing. Only Binchy can take you into ordinary peoples' lives and make you care about what happens to them.
Chicky Ryan grew up on a farm in the west of Ireland within a stone's throw of the Atlantic Ocean. She explored the cliffs and caves and hills and creeks. She got to know all the people in and around Stoneybridge but then she fell in love with an American lad. He persuaded her to accompany him back to New York City much to her family's dismay. And they were right to be dismayed because it didn't take very long before he tired of Chicky and moved out to California. Chicky stayed in NYC and wrote weekly letters to her family about how wonderful he was and their small but lovely wedding. In fact she was working at a boarding house. She went back to Ireland for a week every year but then her niece wanted to come visit. So she had to kill off her husband in a highway crash. She decided to move back to Ireland for good. The old Stone House was falling into disrepair and only one of the three sisters who owned it was still alive. Chicky came up with a plan to turn the house into a small hotel. She agreed to keep Miss Queenie in the house for the rest of her life. It took a while to make the necessary repairs and upgrades but eventually she was ready to open. A week in winter on the west coast of Ireland appealed to a diverse group of people. They came, they mingled, they (mostly) found what they were missing.
The Stone House sounds like a wonderful place to spend a week. Winter in Ireland isn't the cold, snowy season we experience in the middle of Canada. With the proper clothes it is easy to spend hours walking outside, especially when there are warm pubs to repair to for some soup and a local brew. Maeve Binchy makes it seem real.
I'll see if my sister-in-law would like to read this.
Chicky Ryan grew up on a farm in the west of Ireland within a stone's throw of the Atlantic Ocean. She explored the cliffs and caves and hills and creeks. She got to know all the people in and around Stoneybridge but then she fell in love with an American lad. He persuaded her to accompany him back to New York City much to her family's dismay. And they were right to be dismayed because it didn't take very long before he tired of Chicky and moved out to California. Chicky stayed in NYC and wrote weekly letters to her family about how wonderful he was and their small but lovely wedding. In fact she was working at a boarding house. She went back to Ireland for a week every year but then her niece wanted to come visit. So she had to kill off her husband in a highway crash. She decided to move back to Ireland for good. The old Stone House was falling into disrepair and only one of the three sisters who owned it was still alive. Chicky came up with a plan to turn the house into a small hotel. She agreed to keep Miss Queenie in the house for the rest of her life. It took a while to make the necessary repairs and upgrades but eventually she was ready to open. A week in winter on the west coast of Ireland appealed to a diverse group of people. They came, they mingled, they (mostly) found what they were missing.
The Stone House sounds like a wonderful place to spend a week. Winter in Ireland isn't the cold, snowy season we experience in the middle of Canada. With the proper clothes it is easy to spend hours walking outside, especially when there are warm pubs to repair to for some soup and a local brew. Maeve Binchy makes it seem real.
I'll see if my sister-in-law would like to read this.
