The only Maeve Binchy I ever read. I read it shortly after I moved to Ithaca, NY. I remember nothing about the book at this point other than I liked it at the time.

Evacuated from Blitz-battered London, shy and genteel Elizabeth White is sent to stay with the boisterous O'Connors in Kilgarret, Ireland. It is the beginning of an unshakeable bond between Elizabeth and Aisling O'Connor, a friendship which will endure through twenty turbulent years of change and chaos, joy and sorrow, soaring dreams and searing betrayals...

I read this for the first time 35 years ago and remember hugely enjoying it at the time. Well I loved it this time too (despite the ending which took it down from 5 stars).

Disappointed with the ending, but still an enjoyable read.

I had this years ago and rereading it again I felt it didn’t stand up
Elizabeth & Aisling’s friend over the years was good
But the male characters were all so disappointing
George - Elizabeth’s father was so weak & insipid
Johnny Stone - smooth talking womaniser
Henry - Elizabeth’s husband another weak and ineffectual man
Jim - gruff & stuck in the mud
I liked Harry Elizabeth’s step father
I felt the book was far too long the story really dragged and could have been edited to a shorter book

Catching up…

Back in my RV days I selected this book to take on the road with me to read. I figured that it’s 582 pages would keep me occupied for those long drives!

What I remember about this book…

A delightful story of two women over their lifetime.

Cozy, comfy, satisfying.

Love every one of Maeve Binchy's books!!!

This was Maeve Binchy’s first book. I read it when it was first published in the early 1980’s. I must of enjoyed it as I continued to buy her books. This reread I did not. I did not enjoy any of the characters and did not like the decisions that they made. The book was long and boring. Among her other books I do own her last book. One day I will reread it see if I like it better. I hope I do!

I enjoy reading Maeve Binchy. Her books exude comfort and warmth. I did feel with this one the ending almost seemed rushed.

I quite enjoyed this book although it certainly wouldn't be a book I would recommend as light reading. Although parts of it were certainly "fluffy" at times it dealt with some serious topics and there certainly wasn't a happy ending. Both characters were quite infuriating at times and on a number of occasions I wished that I could shake some sense into either of them. This book gives a pretty scary insight into Ireland in the 50s in comparison with England and shows how different we were to our neighbours across the water.

i always find maeve binchy books hard to get into and i found the ending of this one disappointing. running out of good reading material