The Return Journey

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 show more 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. show less

A collection of short stories, unconnected to each other, about the usual topics Binchy writes about — as the blurb puts it, "matters of the heart with powerfully compelling stories of love, loss, revelation and reconciliation." I'm not sure about "powerful" but the rest tracks pretty well. Too many of the stories have a sort of O. Henry twist that is cute the first time and pales in subsequent usage.

I really enjoy Binchy's writing but I don't think short stories are her milieu. She's much better in the sprawling multi-generational sagas of her early career, like Circle of Friends or Firefly Summer, or the later interconnected novels set in Dublin, like Tara Road or Quentins. A shorter format just doesn't give Binchy room to work her show more gentle magic, which thrives when she's giving us multiple points of view across people and time. show less

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 show more 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. show less

One of the things I like about [a:Maeve Binchy|3532|Maeve Binchy|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1206566579p2/3532.jpg] is her quirkiness. In her novels, she usually has time to work the quirkiness out so readers are not left with a strange feeling of incompleteness. I enjoyed this collection of short stories, but found that the quirkiness kind of overwhelmed the story. In their own way, the stories were spare, but the spareness combined with the quirkiness left me feeling a bit odd. I enjoyed the short stories, because they are different and I was so relieved to get out of my campaign to improve myself for a minute that I found it sheer pleasure to read for enjoyment.

A light, pleasant book full of light, pleasant stories. The stories frequently had a romantic theme. It was very pleasant but also fairly empty.

Read for a challenge (Irish author"). Sweet short stories, ranging from horehound (intense) to fudge (rich) to cotton candy (fluff), so to speak. The best ones were the ones that had a little bit of the bitter, or the not-quite-happy ending."

Not too much to say. Binchy does a great job with her short stories. The only reason why I gave this 4 stars is that it feels like the collection just ends a bit abruptly.

The Return Journey (3 stars)-Not bad, but it's just letters going back and forth between a mother and daughter. There's a lot of things said and left unsaid.

The Wrong Suitcase (4 stars)-I loved this one and it's a story following a man and woman who accidentally get each other's suitcases which leads to them finding out about each other in ways that they never thought of. I did like that this doesn't end in like a romantic pairing but just general amazement what a pain in the butt these two people really are when you have a stranger diving into their lives.

Miss Vogel's show more Vaction (5 stars)-One of my favorite stories in this collection. We follow Miss Vogel who many would say did not have a great life. She is left unmarried and pushed out of her father's business. However, we get to see how Miss Vogel changes and gets a new job and eventually gets to explore New York City.

The Home Sitter (5 stars)-Another one that was really good. Told via the point of view of a wife of a college lecturer who realizes this may be her last chance to save her marriage. Enter the home sitter. I liked the ending to this one since it was a surprise to me and I liked what it meant.

Package Tour (3 stars)-Kind of boring. Not bad. But not really great just looking at two people who meet and really like each other but who decide to not continue on due to how they choose to travel. I just rolled my eyes a lot.

The Apprenticeship (4.5 stars)-Thought this was great with us following a young woman named Florrie and her best friend Ruby and how they go about changing their futures with trying to be the young woman that wealthy men will want to marry one day.

The Business Trip (5 stars)-So so good. A secretary who has pined (I loved that word) after her boss for years who finally gets to see the real him on a business trip.

The Crossing (4 stars)-Thought this was good. Two women who are going through some things with regards to their families who have a talk with each other as they take a cruise to Liverpool.

The Women in Hats (3.5 stars)-This one was a bit odd because it somehow touched upon people's prejudices towards women who are not thin. Also be aware of some slurs towards a gay character in this one.

Excitement (5 stars)-An affair gone wrong. I laughed through this whole thing. Such a mess.

Holiday Weather-(4.5 stars)-Another story of an affair where the woman takes a hard look at the man she is with.

Victor and St. Valentine-(3.5 stars)-Not a bad story. Just following a character named Victor and how St. Valentine's Day plays into his life and those around him. I recall reading this for the first time years ago and thought it was just an okay story but was weird to come in after the two stories focusing on affairs.

Cross Lines-(5 stars)-Two people who are off on different paths in their personal and professional lives who meet on a plane. I really enjoyed this one and the ending which gives you a hint at what is next for both of them.

A Holiday with Your Father-(3 stars)-This was a sad story to end on I thought. Pretty much a daughter trying to push her father to do more things and go on vacation and her realization that her father was scared to change his life at all. I thought it was sad with the daughter in this story realizing that her father just felt safer planning things he will never do. show less