****1/2
Echoes by Maeve Binchy
(1985, Arrow Books, 737 pages)

First off, my local bookstore has virtually all of Maeve Binchy’s books in new covers.  That could be why I didn’t look at when this book was copyrighted. I just picked it up because I knew I wanted to work my way through all of Binchy’s books and didn’t peruse when it was written.  It wasn’t until I finished Echoes that I saw it was copyrighted in 1985.  That being said, Echoes starts in 1950 and ends in 1962.  So, it doesn’t matter the book is old.

There is one main protagonist, Clare O’Brien.  She is the younger daughter of her shop-owner parents in an Irish seaside town.  Her old sister torments her and no one in the O’Brien family appreciates that time spent at school is a good thing. Until, of course, Clare’s dedication to her studies starts to pay-off.

This story follows Clare, her mentor and others as they experience life in Ireland at a time when status and religion mean a lot.

This is classic Binchy.  It’s a page turner. I read the more than 700 pages this weekend.  I didn’t do much other than read. The problem is if you don’t have the time to read
(a busy time at works, the kids), you might just find the book overwhelming because of its length. My suggestion wouldn’t be to eliminate it from you reading list. Instead, save it for when you know you’ll have time to savour the rich story.  I really want to know why Ireland has produced so many of my favourite authors.

One other note, if you’re trying to write your own Chick Lit, as I am, I found this book completely unnerving. The standard is just so high.  Imagine, Echoes, was just Binchy’s third book.