Dublin 4 (25 page)

‘Maeve Binchy is one of the few writers who can pull at your heartstrings … she has a touching belief in goodness, but knows that bad things happen … reading her books is like gossiping with old friends’
Daily Express

‘A joy to read from start to finish’
Best

At Notting Hill, a mysterious secretary harbours a secret on her journey to work; at Highbury and Islington, a young man has a sudden change of heart; while at Holborn, a disastrous reunion is about to take place …

From Green Park to Brixton, Shepherd’s Bush to Chancery Lane, the nameless faces travelling on the Tube each have their own tales to tell. In this vintage collection of stories, Maeve Binchy brings this cross-section of London society vividly to life with her unforgettable humour and compassion.

‘Reading these tales is like listening to someone talking: someone you very much want to hear’
Sunday Telegraph

‘An adept storyteller with a sharp eye or social nuances and a pleasing affection for her characters’
Sunday Times

‘Full of warmth and pure delight’
Woman & Home

Each Friday, Tom Fitzgerald drives the same people home from Dublin to spend the weekend in Rathdoon. Nancy, Dee, Kev and Celia – each has their own secret story, unknown to their fellow passengers. And of course Tom himself has his own reasons for returning home so regularly …

Once again, Maeve Binchy has conjured up a cast of very human characters with real joys and real sadnesses, portrayed with her trademark wit, compassion and warmth.

‘Touching, gossipy and as warming as a feather bed’
Sunday Telegraph

‘Has a lovely warm heart … Her prose is magnificently simple and lucid’
Evening Standard

‘Compulsive reading … Ms Binchy has the true story-teller’s knack’
Observer

Growing up in a seaside town, Clare O’Brien and David Power shout their hearts’ desires into the echo cave, praying that their destiny will lead them far away from Castlebay, the small town in which they live.

Years later, in Dublin, their paths cross again – David, following in his father’s footsteps, is studying medicine, and Clare has won a scholarship to University College.

But eventually Castlebay draws them back – and it is against a backdrop of empty grey skies, sea-spray and wind that this drama of ambition, betrayal and love finally reaches its turbulent conclusion …

‘A powerful story of love and jealously’
Sunday Telegraph

‘Compuslive reading … Ms Binchy has the true storyteller’s knack’
Observer

‘Binchy’s novels are never less than entertaining. They are, without exception, repositories of common sense and good humour … chronicled with tenderness and wit’
Sunday Times

Kate and John Ryan are happy in Mountfern, a peaceful and friendly village, and, for their four young children, an unchanging backdrop to a golden childhood. The summers are long and hot, and the twins Michael and Dara, and their siblings Eddie and Declan have, in the ivy-clad ruins of Fernscourt, the once-grand house on the bank of the river burned down during the Troubles, a place to play like no other.

Then Patrick O’Neill, an Irish American with a great deal of money in his pocket, buys the ruins of Fernscourt. No-one in Mountfern could have guessed what Patrick’s dream would mean for their small village, and it’s not until the very end of this tale of love won and lost that Patrick O’Neill himself will understand the irony and significance of his grand dream for Fernscourt …

‘Warm, humorous, sad and happy. Reading it is a joy’
Irish Independent

‘An adept storyteller with a sharp eye or social nuances and a pleasing affection for her characters’
Sunday Times

‘Warm, witty and with a deep understanding of what makes us tick, it’s little wonder that Maeve Binchy’s bewitching stories have become world beaters’
OK Magazine

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