Maeve Binchy writes sweet, Irish tales people with heaps of memorable characters. Like a big, cozy quilt in book form. I love all of her books, but can't always remember exactly what they were about after reading them. I adore
This Year It Will Be Different: the best Christmas short story collection ever. These stories have a definite edge and are infused with dark humor. Mothers who feel that their hard holiday work goes unappreciated should definitely check this collection out. Other outstanding Binchy novels include
Circle of Friends,
Evening Class,
Tara Road, and, especially,
Night of Rain and Stars, which is set on a Greek island and revolves around four tourists from England, America, Germany and, of course, Ireland. After a tragedy occurs on the island, the four find themselves caught up in island life and reluctant to leave. Love blossoms, family troubles spark and are resolved, colorful island folk add their two cents and the whole novel is just delightful.
