Tara Road: An Oprah Book Club pick

All of Maeve Binchy's books are fabulous!!!

My very first Maeve Binchy and what an amazing heart touching story this one turns out to be. A huge thanks to whoever sent this one my way :) since I received the book so long ago that have totally forgotten who gifted me :) apologies and thanks from the bottom of my heart. Now that I have finished my first Binchy :) I've got to make a list of her best works and pick them up in my next haul (sometime in next 6 months depending how long my current stock lasts). Surprisingly Maeve Binchy's writing is totally my cup of tea, straight forward, no hard hitting words, flawless writing, totally life like and believable characters with their own set of struggles, aspirations, dreams and desires for which at times some of them betray the same people who in turn totally love them and still keep their faith on them. The story has so much heart in it that it made big time emotional, gave me so many lumps in my throat but it equally inspired, made me smile as well as made me laugh quite a few times. On top of that my search just returned me an amazing result that a movie was made on the same with Andy McDowell playing one of the lead characters with the same guy who played Sir Jorah Mormont in much loved Game of Thrones TV series :) tempting me big time to get hold of the movie and watch it tonight.As the title suggests "Tara Road" is the story of one posh locality from Dublin (Ireland) where the lead pair of Danny Lynch and his amazing wife Ria (Maria) make their home. How that get that house and how heavenly she turns it out with some amazing set of friends, relatives and neighbors which always kept the reader in me all delighted. But not everything remains always as good as we expect them to be and Binchy hit me hard with that unexpected twist, giving another set of amazing characters from thousands of miles away who gets in touch with Ria out of sheer co-incidence and they end up doing a house exchange for two months, both recovering from their own set of set-backs. How they help each other from miles away, never have met and with no clue about each other's lives makes up for an amazing cliff hanger story with so much going around that I just couldn't resist and end up reading the whole 600+ pages as fast as I could to get to the end :). Author has done an amazing job of showing two poles apart cultures from Ireland and United States in such an amazing way that it adds up so much value to the whole narrative. It indeed was so amazing to grasp that how different yet how same we all are, wherever we may be living. Ria and Danny's cute kids especially Brian the younger one who is always annoying his teenage sister make up for two super entertaining characters with their own set of problems. You've got to read this wholesome family entertainer as I kept updating my own teenage daughter and wifey with the going on story that I was loving big time.As I mentioned earlier this is my first Binchy book but I must say she has a mastery on relationships. This was one superb example of Husband Wife relationship, how different we all are. A perfect story for Father Son and Sibling chemistry (or rivalry). Mother Daughter relationship (two sets) totally amazed me especially the ease with which the story develops and how the characters are carved out and handled, loved it. I have read a lot of books in the recent few years but none comes any close to this one when it comes to talking about depths in relationships, trust, love and even betrayal too. Unbelievably amazing this story is and like I said totally life like.Unfortunately I had no idea of Binchy's writing but I must say she is one heck of a writer. I guess I read it at the right time as it has given me some terrific food for my thoughts on teenage life and how to handle them (or set them free). If you have read Tara Road or seen the movie version, do let me know how you liked it :) and if you haven't read this one, I suggest you take a break and grab it ASAP. Also, do let me know if you have a favorite Binchy, I would love to lay my hands on it at the earliest.

Gran bella storia. Due donne, due storie che si intrecciano. E tanti personaggi che danno colore al racconto. Da leggere. Suggerisco anche la visione del film

Il s'agit de mon 3ème roman de Maeve Binchy et j'envisage d'en lire de nombreux autres. Je constate que certains auteurs ont un style qui se répète et qui souvent me lasse. Or Maeve Binchy sait appréhender la narration et les personnages de manière très variée. L'histoire se déroule à nouveau à Dublin et quand on aime la ville et ses habitants (et les irlandais en général) on est forcément comblé! Je choisis les romans de Binchy les plus longs pour être certaine d'en profiter longtemps! Si vous aimez les bonnes histoires alors n'hésitez pas, vous apprécierez.

I am listening to the awesome Irish band Afro Celt Sound System's latest CD "Anatomic" while writing this review of one of Ireland's premier writers - Maeve Binchy's Tara Road and together they complement each other so beautifully.This book rips your heart out. The cast of characters involved in such immense betrayals nearly overwhelms you. There is nothing sacrosanct in this story of deceitful marriages and friendships. It brings to the table the changes in the 80s and 90s in Dublin and the problems of how common lying has become in their society and how it leads to so many social problems involving teenage pregnancies, illicit love affairs, drug addicted and alcoholic brutes and losers, etc.Then there are the nosey neighbors and families that enable and foster the frank stupidity of the main cast of characters, Danny, Ria, Gertie, Barney and the rest. At times it felt like everyone had a bag on their head in denial. Ria's stupidity was clearly reflected in her stupid kid Brian's behavior. Someone should have stuffed a sock in his mouth everytime he opened it. Between her waterpot emotionality and her clinging dependency there was little room to like anything about her. Danny was a total loser and he still hadn't learned a thing at story's end. Nor had Barney. You could just imagine them rolling on to the next grift.Some of the Irish cloistered societal mores described in this story are very unappealing to some of us more free wheeling American readers. I for one could never tolerate living in such a suffocating place where everyone lives in your pocket with their noses up your nevermind. That said, the story is brilliant even if it is just plain maddening at times.I love Maeve Binchy and am sorry that she has retired now. She brings to the table a gift that is unlike any other writer that I have ever read. She is never vulgar or sexually explicit in her stories like Stephanie Laurens, Jane Feather or Nora Roberts among others, and she addresses that aspect of life in a very refined and realistic way.Check out the Afro Celt Sound System CDs of Irish music. They bring you right to Ireland through lush original Irish music as clearly as Maeve Binchy does through her writing. Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant.