Light A Penny Candle: Maeve Binchy

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Maeve Binchy was born on 28 May 1940 in Dalkey, County Dublin, Ireland, the eldest child of four. Her parents were very positive and provided her with a happy childhood. Although she described herself as an overweight child, her parents' attitude gave her the confidence to accept herself for who she was. Irish family saga centering on the friendship of Aisling O'Connor and Elizabeth White, an English evacuee sent to live with Aisling and her family during WWII. The story spans 20+ years as the girls grow up and start their lives in both Ireland and London.

MyHome.ie (Opens in new window) • Top 1000 • The Gloss (Opens in new window) • Recruit Ireland (Opens in new window) • Irish Times Training (Opens in new window) This was her first novel and it's a little darker than others I've read but a very impressive first book with all her signature touches. The setting (which is the duration and aftermath of World War II) is made incredibly realistic and immediate through the inclusion of small details and their effect on the character’s lives and psyche. Each character is affected by the events around them and the actions of other characters making the whole feel much more cohesive and interesting. Binchy also does not shy away from controversial topics of the time such as Irish resentment of Britain etc. and that lends a sort of gravity to her work. Things That Were Meh a b c d e f Weber, Katharine (26 October 1991). "An Irish National Treasure: PW Talks With Maeve Binchy". Publishers Weekly . Retrieved 11 July 2020.

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Binchy has showed her talent as drama writer for both radio and silver screen. However, many of her novels and short stories are adapted successfully for films and television. Circle of Friends was Binchy’s first book that was made into major Hollywood film starring Chris O’Donnell and Minnie Driver.She regularly sent letters to her parent about her experiences in Israel and her parents would send her letters to a newspaper who published them. This encouraged her to enter the world of writing and started writing travel articles. After her mother’s death in 1968, she was in a state of solitaire. She was single, broke, and expecting a life of spinsterhood until she met Gordon Snell, freelance producer with BBC. She met him during a recording of Woman’s Hour in London. Most of the women were long suffering except a few like Violet and Aisling who refused to put up with their circumstances. Aisling especially was the bright spot in the book, feisty and full of life.

Aisling’s boldness brings Elizabeth out of her proper shell; later, her support carries Elizabeth through the painful end of her parents’ chilly marriage. In return, Elizabeth’s friendship helps Aisling endure her own unsatisfying marriage to a raging alcoholic. Through the years, they come to believe they can overcome any conflict, conquer any hardship—as long as they have each other. Now they’re about to find out if they’re right… Another excellent family drama from one of my favourite cosy authors. We follow two girls growing up during and in the aftermath of World War II from girls to women in both Ireland and England. 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 that will endure through twenty turbulent years of change and chaos, joy and sorrow, soaring dreams and searing betrayals.a b Fox, Margalit (31 July 2012). "Maeve Binchy, Writer Who Evoked Ireland, Dies at 72". The New York Times . Retrieved 11 November 2019. Light a Penny Candle” begins in the 1940's and ends in 1959. It tells of a very different era from our own. Now we counsel women to leave their alcoholic and violent husbands; then, Irish Catholic mothers told their daughters that it was their duty to stay with such men because of the sanctity of marriage! Wow. This was…not what I expected from Maeve Binchy’s debut novel. I have read and enjoyed many Maeve Binchy’s works before this (I just counted - looks like I’ve read 15!), and I enjoyed most of this one, but was slightly disappointed by the ending. It felt like a rather more dark work than I was anticipating. She studied at University College Dublin and was a teacher for a while. She also loved traveling, and this was how she found her niche as a writer. She liked going to different places, such as a Kibbutz in Israel, and she worked in a camp in the United States. While she was away, she sent letters home to her parents. They were so impressed with these chatty letters from all over the world that they decided to send them to a newspaper. After these letters were published, Maeve left teaching and became a journalist.

However, the wheels seemed to come off the story, so to speak, in the middle of the final chapter. It felt like she got tired of writing it and wasn't sure how to wrap it up. The accelerated pace of the latter half of Chapter 16 was bumpy and out of step from the rest of the book. The ending was disorienting and abrupt. I didn't think it was the end, to be honest - listening to the audiobook, I thought the audio file was corrupted. My candles are made with a high quality mineral wax which is undoubtedly the best in terms of both hot and cold throw of fragrances, so whether your candle is burning or not, your environment will be beautifully scented. Mineral wax is a beneficial use and recycling of a minor by- product of the oil industry. I find myself yearning for the rain-soaked watercolour writing of Maeve Binchy' JENNY COLGAN, GUARDIAN Best Comfort Reads For character portrayal, I would give this book five stars. But this long family saga seemed like an endless soap opera that presented one bleak dilemma after another. It was exhausting. My main criticism of the novel is its ending. I won’t spoil it by revealing too much, but I feel that certain characters changed unexpectedly and unbelievably. Binchy didn’t prepare her reader for an ending that seemed rushed or contrived.In addition, Tara Road and How About You are other two novels, which are made into Hollywood films. Binchy’s novel, Echoes published in 1985, was made into four part television miniseries for Channel 4 and The Lilac Bus, a collection of interrelated short stories, was made into a 90 minutes TV movie. To escape the chaos of London during World War II, young Elizabeth White is sent to live a safer life in the small Irish town of Kilgarret. It is there, in the crowded, chaotic O’Connor household, that she meet Aisling—a girl who soon becomes her very best friend, sharing her pet kitten and secretly teaching her the intricacies of Catholicism. Though Maeve Binchy ranks high in my list of Top authors, this one was not really my cup of tea. I would much rather recommend reading one of her other works such as, “Evening Class”, “Circle of Friends”, or “Quentins”. On the other hand, it is an easy to read and somewhat enjoyable book so if you have nothing better to do (like me) then I say, go for it! a b Drabelle, Dennis (1 May 1983). "Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy". The Washington Post . Retrieved 11 November 2019.