If you are not familiar with Maeve Binchy, the Irish author wrote over twenty books. Most are fiction novels set in Ireland in varying time periods. Her books are gentle snapshots of the lives and times of ordinary people.
A Week in Winter follows the same vein as her previous offerings. Set predominately in Ireland, it tells the tale of Chicky, an Irish born woman who leaves Ireland to be with her love in NYC. Abandoned and betrayed, she returns to Ireland unsure of what her future will bring. Unable to tell the truth about her life back in NYC, she lies about the ending of her relationship but is determined to move on.
Chicky is drawn to the Stone House (the big house in her Irish town by the sea) and begins to refurbish it with the plan of making it into a bed and breakfast. Despite the nay saying of others, Chicky begins forming her small community to help her with her dream, taking in an old friend's ne'er do well son and her niece who has returned from Dublin.
Chicky's first guests are to stay for a whole week. The guests are a wildly varying group who each have a something to work out. Each guest has an experience that shapes the path their life will take.
Binchy's characters read like friends - people that you know and care about. Her beloved characters are woven together in her later novels, to give readers an idea of how her former protagonists were doing. This book is no exception, with guest appearances from some characters from Whitethorn Woods and Heart and Soul.
A Week in Winter is Binchy's last novel due to her death last July. If you enjoy non demanding stories about real people, give her books a try.
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Review by Cara
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