predictable but relaxing read ( )

After finishing "Tara Road", I started "Scarlet Feather"--& both these books I read a couple of years after reading earlier (much better, as I see it) Maeve Binchy books- such as "Circle of friends", "Glass lake", "Evening class" etc. The difference between earlier & later Binchy books is enormous. I believe the earlier books started out much more naturally, & the "formula" that everyone talks about, Binchy's usual multiple-character-formula probably was an original, creative device then. Later on, with "Tara Road" & now (even more) with "Scarlet Feather", Binchy's formula seems much more like an old & tired plot device, more like a gimmick than anything else.

The Binchy formula is ever present here: Lots of characters. 2 central characters (Cathy & Tom) who are trying to set up their own catering business in Dublin. A huge (TOO huge) cast of supporting characters. A couple of people who are the obvious villains in the story (but they're so predictably...villainous that it all gets very boring very soon). Hints at side-stories that, at some point, get explained. I could go on & on, since lately Binchy's novels seem to be a mixing up of the same elements, again & again.

What I didn't like, specifically, is
a) the predictability of the story
b) the fact that several lose ends were left there, hanging open. For example, the Amanda-story, the Shona story, the actual early relationship between Cathy & Neil, the relationship between Cathy & her mother-in-law etc etc. There are too many to mention. Interesting little pieces of stories that never get developed, & we're left with questions.
c) the holier-than-thou attitude of Cathy. She's TOO perfect for my own taste, a little humourless & she's got a chip on her shoulder all the time.

What I did like were the delicious descriptions of food that the catering company produces! MMMMMMmm....Read "Scarlet feather" with low expectations, just as a book-to-read-by-the-beach, & mostly for the great food! ( )

Set over a period of one year, Scarlet Feather is a novel featuring Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather, who open a catering company together. As they deal with the joys and heartbreak of owning a business their relationship with each other changes as does their relationship with the other's around them,notably Cathy's husband, Neil, who is a lawyer who wants to save the world and Tom's beautiful girlfriend, Marcella, who will do just about anything to make it as a model. Also involved are Cathy's parents, Muttie, who knows that the next bet he places will be the winner, and "his wife Lizzie", who used to clean for Neil's mother. Neil's family also plays an important part in the novel, especially his cousin Walter, and Maud and Simon, Walter's neglected 8-year-old brother and sister. Other characters include Cathy's family in America, her Aunt Geraldine, and their accountant James Byrne. By the end of the year, each character's life had changed, many in ways they never would have imagined.

Maeve Binchy is a talented writer who can create many characters and make you care about each one, bad or good. Muttie, Maud and Simon are the characters that stood out the most to me. I wish Neil and Cathy's earlier relationship had been developed more, it's hard to understand what brought the two of them together. I do like the way the novel is set over the period of a year, it's amazing how much life can change in a year.

I like Maeve Binchy's books, but there is something a bit melancholy about them, that, while I enjoy reading them, after I've finished it's a long time before I read another one. ( )

This is the story of a tumultuous year in the lives of Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather as they try to start a catering business in Dublin. This is my third Binchy book. I enjoyed it but it didn't ignite my wanderlust like the other two did. However I did enjoy the characters enough to want to check out Quentins and see who shows up there. ( )

Not bad at all surprisingly enough. Maddeningly fictional on the locations though, I wanted to recognize Dalkey/Dublin landmarks. ( )