Maeve B. has been one of my favorite authors for almost 20 years. My mom discovered her when I was in jr. high or h.s. and she read aloud on a family road trip Binchy's book Firefly Summer. After I went and got the book myself and read it, and then every other Binchy in the library. I remember when Oprah's book club picked Binchy's book, Tara Road, I was so annoyed because suddenly my sweet Irish novelist was an OPRAH LADY.
But I digress...
I normally like straight novels mostly but I will devour any short story collection written by Binchy. She has a knack for making great story collections that surround one common theme. They're almost novels, but just with break away episodes. This one, Whitethorn Woods is about a little town in modern-day Ireland where there's a St. Ann shrine and wishing well in some woods outside the town. The local priest Father Flynn doesn't really believe in the shrine's 'powers' and it kind of annoys him that the people go so willingly to the wishing well to ask St. Ann for things but they don't go to church on Sunday. But he visits the shrine at the beginning of the book and prays to hear the needs of the people there.
Thus we get this fantastic story where we hear the stories of different people who either visited the well themselves or someone in their family did. The cool thing is, the stories are little couplets--two POV's of the same situation. Then on to the next. Of course there are still mentions of the town and the priest and other little connections from one story to the next as well. What you end up with is an interwoven tale of people's deepest secrets and hopes--many being answered. There are a couple darker stories, but 85% or more of them are happy endings or "it all worked out" type of scenarios.
This book was a sheer pleasure to read, and I'm so happy Maeve Binchy is still writing her books and bringing such rich people to life on her pages.
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