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Loading... The Copper Beech (edition 2003)by Maeve Binchy (Author)
Work InformationThe Copper Beech by Maeve Binchy
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. The Copper Beech is Binchy at her best. The small schoolhouse and the copper beech in its yard form the center of the Irish village of Shancarrig. Characters are the focus of each chapter but Binchy uses these individual portraits to also tell a tale. ( ) Maeve Binchy had a nice way of taking a lot of diverse characters and pulling them together to create a complete picture of a town or community. I found this interesting throughout. It struck me how much everyone thought they knew about one another, when in fact each person was deeper and different than believed. I think that is true of "real life" as well. We all have depths that few are able or take the time to plumb. The Copper Beech features a series of vignettes elucidating the lives of people who live in a small, Irish town. The titular tree figures prominently in most of their lives. As the stories unfold, the reader learns more about how these people's lives are intertwined and what they think of each other, dropping juicy tidbits and clues to a central mystery of what's going on in Leo's family. When her story is finally told, it feels like a pay-off. I really enjoyed reading this. I'm not terribly familiar with this author, though of course I've heard of her and have several of her books on my shelves. I was expecting this to be a romance, and while there are definitely some characters who enter into relationship with each other, it's not a typical 'two main characters fall in love with each other" kind of romance book. I love all of Maeve Binchey's, including this one, The Copper Beech. Each chapter in this book is an expanded vignette of a character. I loved all of them with the exception of Richard, a spolier fellow who almost got his way with any girls he picked but I like how his life disappointed him. I loved the story of Eddie Barton who pressed flowers and was extremely sensitive and modest. The one of Maura Brenan who wanted to be like her school teacher, gets pregnant and abandoned after marriage and the birth of Down's syndrome boy. Maura never really had love until she had the baby and gave her son love which he returned to her and he loved the town too. Most poignant was Leo or Lenora Murphy, her life crippled by mean mother and an ignoring father, was to endure horrible years haunted by her parents secret that she never wanted to a part of. The worst of it was that she could never tell the full story to anyone. There are many more characters and the wonderful old beech tree near the school house where most carved their initials and hopes. no reviews | add a review
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HTML:NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The Copper Beech is as soothing as a cup of tea.”—People In the little Irish town of Shancarrig, the young people carve their initials—and those of their loves—into the copper beech tree in front of the schoolhouse. But not even Father Gunn, the parish priest, who knows most of what goes on behind Shancarrig’s closed doors, or Dr. Jims, the village doctor, who knows all the rest, realize that not everything in the placid village is what it seems. Unexpected passions and fears are bringing together many lives, such as the sensitive new priest and Miss Ross, the slight, beautiful schoolteacher . . . Leonora, the privileged daughter of the town’s richest family, and Foxy Dunne, whose father did time in jail . . . and Nessa Ryan, whose parents run Ryan’s Hotel, and two very different young men. For now the secrets in Shancarrig’s shadows are starting to be revealed, from innocent vanities and hidden loves to crimes of the heart . . . and even to murder. Praise for The Copper Beech “A book with a difference . . . You’ll take it home to lend to your best friend.”—The New York Times Book Review “Binchy makes you laugh, cry, and care. Her warmth and sympathy render the daily struggles of ordinary people heroic and turn storytelling into art.”—San Francisco Chronicle “The Copper Beech finds author Maeve Binchy at her Irish storytelling best!”—Cleveland Plain Dealer. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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