Maeve Binchy
World-renowned Irish writer
Maeve Binchy (born May 28, 1940[1], Dalkey, Ireland[2]) is an Irish novelist, newspaper columnist and speaker. Educated at University College Dublin[1][2], she worked as a teacher[3][2], then a journalist at The Irish Times[2] and later become a writer of novels and short stories.
Many of her novels are set in Ireland, dealing with the tensions between urban and rural life, the contrasts between England and Ireland, and the dramatic changes in Ireland between World War II and the present day.
Her novel Circle of Friends was made into a 1995 Hollywood movie starring Chris O'Donnell and Minnie Driver.[4]
Binchy announced in 2000 that she would not be writing any more novels, but would be devoting her time to other activities, and to her English-born husband, Gordon Snell. However, she has written three further novels since then - Quentins, Night of Rain and Stars and Whitethorn Woods.
In 1978, Binchy won a Jacob's Award for her RTÉ play, Deeply Regretted By. A second award went to the lead actor, Donall Farmer.
Themes
Maeve Binchy is a modern day women's writer in the Jane Austen sense. Her books are generally female centric always dealing with modern day and timeless problems of Irish women in the 20th century. Marriage, divorce, abortions, affairs, and financial corruption and bankruptcy are common events that pop up in her novels. People often work in food service (a la Quentins, Scarlet Feather) or in the hotel industry (Evening Class, Light a Penny Candle.) The juxtaposition of poor and working class families versus the upper class occurs in many of her novels. The Catholic Church is a presence in her books; sometimes priests/nuns are main characters. This has lessened as the Church's influence has waned in modern Ireland.
While some novels are complete stories (Circle of Friends, Light a Penny Candle) many of her novels revolve around a cast of interrelated characters (Copper Beech, Silver Wedding, The Lilac Bus, Evening Class). Her later novels, Evening Class, Scarlet Feather, Quentins, and Tara Road, feature a continuum of recurring characters.
Bibliography
first novel published in 1982
Novels [5]
- Light a Penny Candle (1982)
- The Lilac Bus (1984)
- Echoes (1985)
- Firefly Summer (1987)
- Silver Wedding (1988)
- Circle of Friends (1990)
- The Copper Beech (1992)
- The Glass Lake (1994)
- Evening Class (1996)
- Tara Road (1998)
- Scarlet Feather (2000)
- Quentins (2002)
- Nights of Rain and Stars (2004)
- Whitethorn Woods (2006)
Short story collections [5]
Binchy has also published several short stories, including:
- Victoria Line, Central Line (London Transports)
- Dublin 4
- This Year It Will Be Different
- Return Journey (1998)
- Return Journey and other Stories
Other works
- Star Sullivan (a novella)[5]
- Deeply Regretted By (a play)[5]
- Aches and Pains (non-fiction)[5]
- Finbar's Hotel (contributor)
- Ladies Night at Finbar's Hotel (contributor)
- Irish Girls About Town (2002) (editor with Cathy Kelly and Marian Keyes).