A Week in Winter
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4.1 • 1.4K Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of Circle of Friends • In a small town on the west coast of Ireland, an unlikely cast of characters come together at a newly opened inn. This "delightful [novel that] radiates the warmth and charm that fans will recognize and cherish" (USA Today).
Stoneybridge is a small town on the west coast of Ireland where all the families know one another. When Chicky Starr decides to take an old, decaying mansion set high on the cliffs overlooking the windswept Atlantic Ocean and turn it into a restful place for a holiday by the sea, everyone thinks she is crazy. Helped by Rigger (a bad boy turned good who is handy around the house) and Orla, her niece (a whiz at business), Chicky is finally ready to welcome the first guests to Stone House’s big warm kitchen, log fires, and understated elegant bedrooms. John, the American movie star, thinks he has arrived incognito; Winnie and Lillian are forced into taking a holiday together; Nicola and Henry, husband and wife, have been shaken by seeing too much death practicing medicine; Anders hates his father’s business, but has a real talent for music; Miss Nell Howe, a retired schoolteacher, criticizes everything and leaves a day early, much to everyone’s relief; the Walls are disappointed to have won this second-prize holiday in a contest where first prize was Paris; and Freda, the librarian, is afraid of her own psychic visions.
Sharing a week with these characters is pure joy, full of Maeve’s trademark warmth and humor. Once again, she embraces us with her grand storytelling.
This ebook edition includes photos from the landscape of A WEEK IN WINTER and a Reading Group Guide.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The late Maeve Binchy was beloved for her warmth, insight, and her deep connection to her Irish homeland. Published shortly after her 2012 death, A Week in Winter is a sweetly enchanting parting gift. Chicky Starr is determined to outpace an ill-fated romance and her dishonest past, so she returns to her seaside hometown to turn a grand-but-crumbling house into a guest lodge. Of course, she enlists the help of a reformed bad-boy handyman (as well as her business-minded niece). We couldn’t ask for a cozier setup for Binchy’s loving ode to friendship, small kindnesses, and new beginnings.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This less-than-thrilling final work (after Minding Frankie) in the late Irish novelist s prolific oeuvre tells the life stories of a cast of characters that show up for a week s stay at a bed and breakfast called Stone House. The house is located in the idyllic village of Stoneybridge on western Ireland s "wet and wild and lonely" Atlantic coast. Binchy begins with the hotel s founder and proprietor, Chicky Starr, whose life hasn t turned out the way she d hoped. Several disparate narratives overlap and intermingle in various ways, as the reader views the characters who each receive their own chapter from the others perspectives. Binchy encapsulates the lives of her characters with such authority and so completely that there is little room for mystery or urgency. The reader gets the sense that all of the intrigue has been removed from the characters unique yet matter-of-fact lives. The novel, however, is welcome territory for those looking for a feel-good read, and as Binchy writes, no matter how awry their lives seem to go, "It was all going to be fine."
Customer Reviews
Escape the news and enjoy some tea and scones
Really, Maeve Binchy is a tonic. Whenever I am overwhelmed by the worries of life, I pick up one of her books and they never disappoint. This is one of her better ones. Enjoy.
Nice stories, very positive and human
Very lovely writing about the environment and I enjoyed the background of all the characters.
Very interesting characters
Since I have just been to Ireland, I am enjoying reading Irish books. This really was interesting to me and I love all the different character.