Maeve Binchy RIP

I was so sad this morning to read that Maeve Binchy died yesterday.  She was aged 72 and died after a short illness.  Listening to the radio here in Ireland this morning, tributes are pouring into her and what is most being remarked on, apart from her books themselves, is her warmth and kindness.

To anyone who has loved her books, this will make complete sense. It is clear on every page that Maeve Binchy loves people: their simple lives, their friendships, their mistakes, their huge ability to deceive themselves. There are no real out and out villains in her work - just flawed humans.

I was about ten when I first stared reading her books - I am pretty sure Echoes was my first read.  I LOVE that book - it is just so set in its time and there is a sweeping story with a perfect Binchy balance of details of Irish life in the 50s: the slightly mad way catholicism is interpreted and used in daily life, village life, student life, family life. This balance is maintained in most of her books, particularly those set in the 50s.

I felt some of her more modern books weren't quite as strong.  The great characters were still there, but some of the elements of modern life were poorly explained or unlikely to have occurred as described; for example how Marcella expects to get into modelling in Scarlett Feather is just odd and made little sense. And Ria's first attempts to use the internet in Tara Road are just bizarre and I don't quite know how an editor let them through.
Her most recent book Minding Frankie was very good, considering the above and didn't jar so much, despite being set in Dublin today.

It was clear, however, that Maeve was at her most confident and fluent when looking back to the 50s. My FAVOURITE of all her books has to be The Glass Lake. Set in the 50s in rural Ireland and London, it has one of the best plots in terms of secrets and mysteries. And I LOVE the character of Kit: a strong young woman, facing huge choices.  I remember I bought this for my Mum's birthday and gave it to her when she came to stay with me in my first year halls at Warwick University.  I then convinced her to let me read it that weekend as I wouldn't get the chance till Christmas otherwise.  I can't believe she let me - what a brat!

Sometimes people can be a bit sniffy about Maeve Binchy books, as fluffy and lacking any literary credibility. Her books have stood the test of time however and today's responses on the radio and on Facebook show how loved her work was and by how many different people. Some highbrow authors would be lucky to have anything close to that kind of response.

I will keep reading her books! And I will think of her often especially as I drive past Hunter's Hotel, just down the road from me. Maeve Binchy wrote about Holly's Hotel in many of her books - and she was referring to Hunter's.  One day I was there for lunch with my family and she came in.  Quite a large woman in a voluminous dress, clearly a regular.  It was quite a buzz to see her! I hope she didn't suffer in her illness.  Her husband Gordon Snell had every single one of her books dedicated to him and must be feeling very lost at the moment - bless him.

RIP Maeve Binchy - and thank you.