The Return Journey (1998)

The Return Journey is a collection of short stories by Maeve Binchy, stories published between 1994 and 2004 as far as I can tell. Keeping the title in mind, they are all tales about travel - people going somewhere, people returning from somewhere, people in the middle of their journey, people just trying to get started. A couple that moved me the most include "The Crossing," in which two women, strangers, chat companionably while on the ferry crossing from Ireland to Liverpool; they tell each other some important details about their family lives and struggles, offer each other (good) advice for coping with their individual situations, and then part when the ferry reaches its destination, never to know what happened in the other woman's life afterwards. And I also very much enjoyed "The Business Trip," in which a young woman who has been in (unrequited, unspoken) love with her boss for 4 years is asked to go on a business trip to London for a week with him; spending time in closer quarters than usual will give her the chance to know him better and express her love, but will she still feel the same as she learns more about him?.... As ever, Binchy has a gentle touch and a lot of compassion in these stories; they are all quite "small" stories but ones that anyone travelling can relate to, and even stay-at-homes will have experienced some of the same situations generally. A treat; I savoured each tale and will look for more of her short-form work in the future. ( )

In all my hundreds of years of reading everything in sight, I had never read a Maeve Binchy. I know it's unbelievable but there you are. I had her in my mind, just never took the time.

Last week I was looking for a short read to fit in between books for promised reviews. My box of books from friends yielded The Return Journey by Maeve Binchy, a short paperback perfect for the amount of time I had. It turned out to be a little book of short stories, all related to travel in some way.

Short stories and I have been total strangers for many years. I stopped reading them entirely during the period of time when they were more like scenes. They had no beginning, middle or ending, nor did they seem to serve any purpose at all. I was never satisfied with them, and felt they were a waste of my valuable reading time, so I just stopped.

Apparently short stories have changed somewhat in the meantime. Although these Binchy stories are more like character studies, there is an actual plot. I am in awe of Binchy's ability to make interesting characters come alive in a few paragraphs. I'm still not sold on short stories, however, I can say I really enjoyed the people and each of the little stories here. ( )

Lovely interlude. A collection of short stories about love and relationships. Binchy knows how to touch the heart and write about it. ( )

This is a collection of short stories in which Maeve Binchy introduces us to sons, brothers, fathers, mothers, sisters and lovers. She looks at the relationships and the affect of love on her characters. I have to say that although I usually love Maeve Binchy as an author and am definitely willing to give anything she has written a fighting chance to take me away; I found this particular book lacking in parts.

I had read this book before several years ago and of course had forgotten what it was like. I will definitely still read Maeve Binchy again but, in my opinion, this was a weak book. I give it a C! ( )

A book of short stories about love and relationships. Not much to say - light, easy to read, often charming. ( )