Evening Class

So I apologize in advance for not reviewing these books in the order of publication. I tend to go back again and again to my tried and true Binchy novels. I decided this year I will aim to at least post reviews for all of the books that I have read. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I enjoyed re-reading this book, Heart & Soul, and This Year it Will Be Different. There is something so homey with these books. At this time I have been reading about the same characters for more than a dozen years. I likened her a bit to Rosamunde Pilcher who returns to the same characters or references them in her other books. It's like a very nice present you get each book. That said, I thought that some of the character stories in this one were pretty adult. show more You have Binchy tackling marital rape (still rape), adultery, and theft. There are still some good heartwarming stories here and there though.

Evening Class starts out with Aiden Dunne realizing that his dream of becoming principal of Mountainview College is never going to happen. A new teacher, Tony O'Brien is who the administrators want as principal. Aiden doesn't know what he is going to do now and how he will be able to spin this to his family. Tony pushes him (for his own reasons) to do a potential evening class that Aiden recommends in order to bring in people to the school.

Once again Binchy does a good job of setting up the stories of the people who will end up attending this evening class. We know that at least 30 people sign up, but we ultimately only follow Aiden, Signora (real name is Nora), Bill, Kathy, Lou, Connie, Laddy, and Fiona.

Per usual I think my favorite sections to read about were Aiden, Signora, and Connie.

I felt for Aiden since he is realizing that his wife (Nell) and two daughters (Grania and Brigid) have grown apart through the years. His wife is barely home, his two daughters don't really talk to him, and he is starting to realize that he is middle-aged with the possibility of this being his life until the day he passes. Him organizing and taking the evening class which will ultimately teach its participants Italian allows him to think about his life in a totally different way. His burgeoning friendship with the teacher, Signora, always allows Aiden to dream about something new. I did get frustrated with Aiden a bit, because I felt like he was just way too clueless about a lot of things going on. He was a bit passive, except a few times in the story. I was ultimately happy with how Binchy concludes his story in this book.

Signora was interesting. Usually I would despise this type of character. At the age of 20 something, Signora met an Italian boy named Mario and proceeded to defy her family and follow him to Sicily. While there, Signora finds out that Mario is to be married. She still decides to stay and be Mario's other woman for more than 20 years. When Mario dies in an accident, she is asked to leave by his wife and children and Signora finally returns home. Ireland has moved on while she was away so Signora has trouble finding a place to live and work. When she ends up teaching Italian at Mountainview College it seems her prayers are answered. I felt a bit for Signora's family. They don't sound great, but I can see why her family was a bit put out with her. She ended up reconnecting with her best friend from years ago, Brenda, who runs the ever popular Quentins, so that was good. I did read Quentins years ago, but will do a re-read to post a review.

Connie's story was something else though. A young girl who had it all until her father died leaving her family penniless. Being forced to give up her dream of being a lawyer, she goes to a secretarial school where she ends up avoiding men. She eventually meets someone that she thinks will be a perfect husband and father, Harry Kane. Connie thinks that her life will be perfect, but there a ton of wrenches thrown in the way. I liked how Connie pushed through them though I did wish that the character had went to therapy. There definitely seemed to be something going on with her. I did love how Binchy wrapped up one part of her story. I didn't really like the whole thing that went down with her when the group gets to Italy though.

The other characters are interesting, I just didn't like them as much as the others. I just felt like Bill was being a pushover, and a jerk at times (his realization of him having to be his younger sister's caregiver after his parents are gone just made me dislike him a bit). Kathy's story was okay, just not that engaging. I though Lou was a jerk honestly when we find out what he was getting up to. And Laddy's story was just sad to me. Honestly it should have been called Rose's story (Laddy's sister) since the story focused on her and what she had to deal with as a married woman.

The writing was really good. Binchy has a way with words that just draws you in. I always love reading her works in the fall/winter because that always seems to be the time of year to me that is best to read her works. The flow was a bit up and down though between character chapters. That and me not being as engaged with the different characters stories is why I gave this one 4 stars.

The setting is Ireland in the late 90s I imagine. Evening Class was first published in 1996, but I got this book back in April 2009. Some parts of the book felt a bit dated to me then with discussions of one of Aiden's daughters working in a travel agency. I honestly don't know if there are travel agencies anymore.

The ending leaves things with a newfound hope and joy for two of the characters. And some of them are definitely in a new stage of their lives like Fiona and Lou. show less

The characters from this book pop up in later Binchy works but I still like this novel better than most of her later ones. The Evening Class referred to is for Italian. All the students, and the teacher, have unique reasons for joining the class but they are all searching for something. You can't help but get caught up in their lives. This was given to me by my husband for Christmas of 1996 so it stays in my permanent collection.

My mother recently visited me and left Maeve Binchy's novel, Evening Class, for me to read, and I'm very glad she did as she's not an author I've read before. Evening Class is set in Dublin and is essentially a collection of inter-related stories about a group of people who come together to take a course in Italian. The glue that holds together all of these people is Signora, the teacher who had spent 26 years in Sicily before returning home to Ireland following the death of the love of her life, but each of the characters has a deeper and more complicated life than appears to be the case initially. For instance, Fran and Kathy are the eldest and youngest sisters of a large family - or are they? Lou seems completely out of place in the show more course, but he has a surprising reason for being there. Connie is the wealthy lady who is hiding a lifetime of artifice and scandal.... And so on, and so on. I very much enjoyed this collection of character studies; although Binchy's writing seems to be very gentle and sweet, there are shocking truths revealed by each character as the reader gets to know them better, and one ends up with a feeling of rich satisfaction at the complex nature of life and of humanity. Recommended, and I'm definitely planning to read more of this marvelous writer! show less

Loved it - Each chapter is narrated by a different character & all of the characters are intertwined in some way, other than their obvious attendance to the evening class. Each character is so different and this allows the reader to get an insight into different personalities, young and old. There are parts of each characters life that the reader can relate to e.g being poor, dutiful, lonely, young and courageous, in love, honest, hardworking, beaten abused wife. Wow, it is all there, and makes the reader feel so many emotions; I was even brought to tears.
I enjoy Binchy's writing because it feels real and I genuinely liked the characters and resonated with their stories. My favourite characters were Connie and Aiden who both found show more happiness in the end. Connie who held her head high and was honest and Aiden who somewhat clueless and did not want to rock the boat but had a sense of loyalty as well. I felt sorry for Aiden & Nell as a married couple who had grown apart, Nell seeking happiness by having an affair (which annoyed me) with a married man. Personally she would be welcome to him as he is a complete unsympathetic a hole to his wife who became depressed and attempted suicide on a few occasions.
Anyway whatever the character the read was well worth the 5/5 stars show less

Book on CD narrated by Kate Binchy

Another wonderful ensemble piece ty Maeve Binchy. All her novels can be read as stand-alones, but she does tend to use the same set of characters over and over, and their relationships devlop over the course of her many works.

In this case the focus is on Signora (aka Nora Donoghue) and Aidan Dunne. Signora has left Dublin some 25 years previously to live (in sin) with the man she loves in Sicily; now, she’s returned to Dublin and needs work. Aidan Dunne is a teacher at a school serving an lower-class neighborhood; his hopes of being promoted to principal have been dashed but he’s been put in charge of a new effort – an evening class for adults. He hires Signora to teach Italian and the students show more who arrive for the class are the characters of this novel.

Like most ensemble stories, the “plot” moves back and forth between the various characters and their issues. You have marital troubles, child/parent issues, nascent romance, young people gone astray, and the possibilities of new beginnings.

I like Binchy’s writing and love how she weaves these various characters, often with wildly different backgrounds, together to form a team of sorts.

Kate Binchy did a fine job narrating the audiobook, but I was disappointed to discover (after I had checked it out of the library) that it was an abridged version. Fortunately for me, I also had the text handy so I read between listening sessions to ensure I didn’t miss anything. show less

I first read this after visiting Ireland. It was so much fun to explore the interconnected lives of Dubliners. Years later I wondered if I would enjoy it as much. I needed a comfort read and this was perfect. Senora returns to Ireland after spending decades in Italy pinning after her married lover. Her path crosses with Aidan, a local teacher, and they start an evening class teaching locals how to speak Italian. The class includes Lou, a man on the edge of a crime ring, Laddie, a simple man who works in his nephew's hotel, Connie, a rich woman with an unhappy marriage, and so many others. We also meet Fiona, a mousy barista in a hospital, Aidan's daughters, and Tony, the local principal.

BOTTOM LINE: One of my favorite Binchy novels. A show more great place to start if you've never tried her work. show less

Sarà ridicolo, ma è il primo romanzo più o meno rosa che leggo in tutta la mia vita, e tutto sommato questa sconosciuta (per me) Maeve Binchy, ha fatto un discreto lavoro.
I personaggi sono ben caratterizzati, anche se non molto approfonditi, le ambientazioni sono gradevoli, le situazioni un tantino stereotipate, soprattutto per quanto riguarda l'Italia, che è decisamente un'Italia per stranieri, ma il libro è scritto in modo curato, e ogni tanto prova anche a riservare qualche piccolo colpo di scena.
Una gradevole lettura in una notte di insonnia.