Heart and Soul

I’m almost out of Maeve Binchy books to read and that makes me incredibly sad. The Irish author passed away last year after writing 16 novels and a handful of short story collections. After finishing Heart and Soul I now only have one of her books left unread. I’m sure I’ll return to her earlier books again, but I hate that I only have one completely new story left to discover.

Heart and Soul is set in Dublin and tells the story of Clara, who is starting a new heart clinic in the bustling city. Despite a frustrating ex, two bratty daughters and a penny-pinching boss, Clara manages to get the clinic up and running with an excellent staff. She handpicks everyone from the nurses and dietician to the security guard.

In Binchy’s show more trademark style we wander in and out of various characters lives, watching them fall in love, tackle new challenges and learn more about themselves along the way. This book includes many familiar faces. We reconnect with characters from her other novels, (especially Scarlet Feather, Quentins, Nights of Rain and Stars and Evening Class) and see how they are doing now. You don’t have to read those books to appreciate this one, but it’s a nice surprise to meet those characters again.

I particularly enjoyed Anya’s story. She’s a sweet Polish girl just hoping to find some work in Ireland. Her sincere joy at life despite her ups and down was lovely. A few areas in the story faltered, like a section with a priest and a woman who is avidly pursuing him, but that wasn’t enough to detract for the overall book.

BOTTOM LINE: If you love Binchy’s work then definitely pick this one up. She is a comfort read for me and I almost always enjoy her. show less

Heart and Soul is another slice of Irish life by Maeve Binchy, in this case detailing the lives of a group of people who come together to create a heart clinic attached to a local hospital, their patients and other individuals related to the staff. Clara Casey is the cardiologist who takes on the thankless task of setting up the clinic, which largely involves battling a hospital bureaucrat, Frank Ennis, to obtain the funds she needs to run the place; in addition, she is coping with her two young adult daughters and an ex-husband who continues to intrude into her life, even though they've been separated for years. She quickly recruits a young resident (Declan Carroll), two nurses (Fiona and Barbara), an office manager (Hilary), a show more physiotherapist (Johnny) and nutritionist (Lavender) and, finally, a young Polish girl, Ania, to be a sort of maid-of-all-work for the clinic. Very soon, the lives of all of these people become entangled with and enriched by each other and by their patients; romances bloom and fade, parents and children fight and reconcile (or not), and life continues on in all its messy glory.... I've come late to the joys of Maeve Binchy's writing, having only discovered her in 2012, but this is definitely a case of better late than never. Her stories are full of interesting characters leading ordinary lives; she doesn't sugar-coat the more depressing parts of life, but she doesn't dwell on the negative either, and instead she just shows how ordinary, complicated people are interconnected in so many ways. Recommended! show less

Binchy is nothing if not a fun read. I love the way she brings characters to live and interweaves their stories into a glimpse of an entire community of individuals without making us feel anyone has gotten short shrift. Another Binchy hallmark is finding a familiar character and seeing the next chapter of their tale unexpectedly.

No one would claim that Binchy writes cutting social commentary, but she does open up communities to let us see inside. She always makes me wish I could be there and know her people and share their lives. It is escapism of the finest variety.

Dr Clara Casey really doesn't want to be the head of a new heart clinic. But, since she has accepted the role for a year, she is determined to make the most of it, to design the layout in her own way, to employ the kind of staff she wants, and most of all to confound Frank, the administrator of the attached hospital.

So she employs nice young doctor Declan, and two attractive nurses; she takes Ania, a Polish refugee, under her wing, and she arranges the new clinic exactly as she wants it, riding roughshod over everyone else's ideas - but she has the welfare of her patients in mind, and it all works surprisingly well.

The book follows the intertwined lives of several of the staff and their families, and also some of the patients who show more become regulars at the clinic. There were perhaps rather too many characters for a standalone novel, but many of them appeared in previous novels by Maeve Binchy, so I quite enjoyed the tying up of some loose ends, and the feeling of getting back in touch with old friends - even though it took me a while to recognise some of them.

The characterisation is good, and I felt it was a warm and friendly book.

Latest longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2025/05/heart-and-soul-by-maeve-binchy.html show less

Binchy seems to be a hit or miss for me, and this one is definitely a miss, Trite, syrupy, predictable, it doesn't have much to redeem itself. Even though it seems to be some kind of St Jarlath Crescent series, Binchy is determined to introduce all of Dublin to the reader: it's confusing and unnecessary, creating stereotyped, uni-dimensional characters. Even as light reading it's boring and bland. Pass.

In Heart and Soul, Maeve Binchey created a terrible villian. A woman living with her mother and often drunk and physically abusive father. I think the book is worth reading for that alone because the wiley daughter was terrible indeed. Eileen forced her way into a overweight, shy and very kindly priest’s tiny home and acted like they were having an affair. The priest was shaken to the bone and convided in his friend. An alliance formed to save the priest. His friend, Johnny saw through her guiles immediately and arranged a wonder comeuppance for her. When I read it, I laid my book down on my lap and clapped my hands!

That is just one of the wonderful situations that exists in this book. Maeve Binchey wrote my comfort books.As I read show more her books, I keep a large index card in the book and I write down what I enjoyed.

Because my memory is not good, I track the characters and Maeve Binchey created oodles of them and I like how they end their story book. I was very happy with how Eileen evolved and Rosemary Walsh had an amazing change when she walked into the ladder.

I hope that you enjoy this book as much as I did. show less

Dr. Clara Casey was passed over for the position of head cardiologist at the hospital. Instead, she ends up appointed the director of the new heart clinic and she's less than thrilled about the prospect. She promises herself it will only be for a year, she'll get through it, and move on.

The new job is just the beginning of her troubles. She has two selfish daughters who are wrapped up in their own lives. Her estranged husband, who left her to live with a much younger woman, is finally asking for the divorce she won't grant, and Frank Ennis, the hospital board member overseeing the clinic, is an incredible thorn in her side.

At the clinic, she begins assembling a diverse and wonderful staff. Clara is a force and you begin to see the show more clinic find its home in the community and become a touchstone for so many of the characters in this book.

Maeve Binchy is a comfort read for me. She creates such immensely likable characters that I want to pick up and go to Dublin to meet these people. In this book, as with most Binchy novels, the story is told from several perspectives and you know what's going on in the lives of all the characters. Some of their stories are more interesting than others but it's the way they are all tied together that makes it work. Binchy does a good job of folding you into the story and you're hooked before you know it. The ending of this one felt a bit abrupt and the characters all work out their problems fairly quickly but that may also have been me not wanting to see this story come to an end at all.

This book does include characters from previous novels but you don't need to have read them all to understand what's going on here. It stands on its own but if you've read the other books, it's nice to see the characters you've met before are all doing fine. show less