The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy

 

The setting is Lough Glass in Ireland and it's the early 1950s. The story follows Mary Katherine McMahon's life as a child and the approximately ten years after her mother Helen disappears. It's thought her mother drowned but Mary (known as Kit) worried her mother killed herself.  She had a note from her mother but burned it without reading as if it was a suicide note she couldn't have a church burial.

Kit misses her mother very much and leans on friends and distant family to help her. She gets into a pen pal relationship with a woman named Lena Gray who claims to have known her mother.  There is certainly a surprise lurking for Kit in that relationship!

If you want to submerge yourself into 1950s Irish culture this will be a good book for you. It's dated in references but I liked it. The themes are loss and love.  I liked the comparison of English life vs Irish life from Kit's perspective.

 This is another book I am clearing from the shelves in my mission to read more books from the stacks at home.  It's already in the mail to a friend who may enjoy it!

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday and Marg at The Intrepid Reader for the 2022 Historical Fiction challenge.

A Few of the Girls by Maeve Binchy

 

As Maeve Binchy died in 2012 I was quite surprised, yet delighted, to see a new book available at the library.  The forward is written by her husband Gordon Snell.  He explains how she would type up a storm and get her thoughts out, never once seeing her staring at a blank page as she searched for inspiration.

As a big fan of Ms. Binchy I grabbed a copy and settled in to read the short stories.  I will say I prefer her novels more than this collection and these stories are dated in the narrative of how women defer to men.

That said, this is a book of stories about friendships and relationships.  Some show how women support one another and others where women stand up for themselves. If you haven't read Binchy before I would not start with this collection as her novels are much better.  I have read all of her books and Light a Penny candle remains my very favorite.

Sharing with

 Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday 

 Marg at The Intrepid Reader for the 2022 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.