Ria lived on Tara Road in Dublin with her dashing husband, Danny, and their two children. She fully believed she was happily married, right up until the day Danny told her he was leaving her to be with his young, pregnant girlfriend. By a chance phone call, Ria meets Marilyn, a woman from New England unable to come to terms with her only son's death and now separated from her husband. The two women exchange houses for the summer with extraordinary consequences, each learning that the other has a deep secret that can never be revealed.

Drawn into lifestyles vastly differing from their own, at first each resents the news of how well the other is getting on. Ria seems to have become quite a hostess, entertaining half the neighborhood, which at first irritates the reserved and withdrawn Marilyn, a woman who has always guarded her privacy. Marilyn seems to have become bosom friends with Ria's children, as well as with Colm, a handsome restaurateur, whom Ria has begun to miss terribly. At the end of the summer, the women at last meet face-to-face. Having learned a great deal, about themselves and about each other, they find that they have become, firmly and forever, good friends.

Release planned for Wednesday, March 24, 2004 at RABCK in n/a, n/a Controlled Releases.

Off to visit arugh48187 in Minnesota

Received as an RABCK from MsPooh. I shall enjoy. Thank you for sharing.

Reading a Binchy novel is like taking a long walk in the countryside; not much exciting, but pleasurable nonetheless. I can't read them very often, but sometimes it is nice to slow down and journey through a novel. Her novels are always mainly about the characters, and such characters she comes up with. I don't think I had a favorite in this one, though I found Brian's lack of verbal restraint entirely charming. I only wish that I was as young and could use that excuse for not thinking before I speak. I find it interesting that she had an underlying comment about Americans and how they don't invite people into their lives and that can all be changed by reaching out to people and entertaining, etc., etc. I find that hard to believe, as I have moved to India and the privacy thing is here as well. Everybody says to just pop in sometime, but when you actually do, it's a bit awkward. Then again, maybe I am just projecting my own inhibitions onto everyone else. Who knows.

Good read anyway. Thanks for sharing, and sorry it took so long to reach the top of my TBR pile. I will pass it along soon.

RELEASE NOTES:

Left on the bench by the elevators on the second floor.