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7th out of 21 books
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32 voters
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Heart and Soul
by
Maeve Binchy
With the insight, humor, and compassion we have come to expect from her, Maeve Binchy tells a story of family, friends, patients, and staff who are part of a heart clinic in a community caught between the old and the new Ireland.
Dr. Clara Casey has been offered the thankless job of establishing the underfunded clinic and agrees to take it on for a year. She has plenty on h...more
Dr. Clara Casey has been offered the thankless job of establishing the underfunded clinic and agrees to take it on for a year. She has plenty on h...more
Hardcover, 432 pages
Published
February 17th 2009
by Knopf
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Wonderful! Wonderful! Reading this was like falling into a warm and cozy bath with great chocolate to eat. Some characters from previous books make appearances and even have greater parts in this novel. I am so glad I ordered it early from Amazon U.K. This novel centers around a heart clinic and the people who work there and the patients who go there as well for treatment. The usual blend of small mysteries and entertwined lives as only Maeve Binchy could do.This was definitely worth the wait!...more
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Ugh... this was a SLLLLOOWWWWW read. It's not my favorite Binchy book by any stretch of the imagination. I know some of the characters have been recycled from other books, but I can't remember which books, so that's a little frustrating. I wish there was a cheat sheet somewhere to jog my memory about who they are.
I love Maeve Binchy and this is another charming character driven story. I love the way she brings back characters from previous novels for cameo appearances, like an old friend stopping by to say hello. If you're looking for a gentle and enjoyable read this is a great choice.
Audio book read by Sile Bermingham.
This is a story of family, friends, patients and staff whose lives intersect at a heart clinic in Dublin. Dr Clara Casey has taken on the job of director of this underfunded but much needed clinic. She agrees to a one-year contract because she has plenty of other issues in her personal life – two adult daughters with whom she has a difficult relationship, and an ex-husband who is trying to worm his way back into her good graces. The staff she assemb...more
This is a story of family, friends, patients and staff whose lives intersect at a heart clinic in Dublin. Dr Clara Casey has taken on the job of director of this underfunded but much needed clinic. She agrees to a one-year contract because she has plenty of other issues in her personal life – two adult daughters with whom she has a difficult relationship, and an ex-husband who is trying to worm his way back into her good graces. The staff she assemb...more
New author! Well, to me she is. I have seen books from Binchy all over the place, but I just never picked one up. And now I can see why. As a whole, I am so not a fan of Irish authors. I think it's mainly to do with the characters. They live a more simple life there that I just don't get and the women are always so pushed around and they just take it! It's just a society that I don't get. One good thing about her books is that they are big and while they are really quick reads, they still take a...more
I enjoyed this book, but it definitely wasn't among Binchy's best works. Like her previous book, Whitethorn Woods, this novel is a series of vignettes around one central location, in this case a clinic. Some of the characters have appeared in previous works, including Whitethorn Woods, Quentin's, Evening Class, The Scarlet Feather, and Nights of Rain and Stars, but you probably don't have to read the previous books to keep up with this. My issue with Heart and Soul is that there isn't any cen...more
Frank Ennis had a marvelous plan for the unused storage building owned by St. Brigid's Hospital in Dublin. He had found buyers for it who would build a block of housing. It was a great way get rid of a neighborhood eyesore, and he'd get the credit for adding all that money to St. Brigid's coffers.
However, his fellow board members voted his great plan down and decided to turn it into a heart clinic instead. They wanted a day clinic where patients would come to exercise, learn to cha...more
However, his fellow board members voted his great plan down and decided to turn it into a heart clinic instead. They wanted a day clinic where patients would come to exercise, learn to cha...more
My wifi has been acting up, so this is my third try at this.
A gentle woman's read. Binchy's stories always turn out well, like a fairy tale, which I have a sneaking fondness for.
This one is about the formation and first year of a Heart Clinic, formed to help people who have had heart attacks get follow up care in a non hospital setting. Most of the characters are sympathetic types. Even the bad ones come to sort of a resolution in the end. There's a women who is the...more
A gentle woman's read. Binchy's stories always turn out well, like a fairy tale, which I have a sneaking fondness for.
This one is about the formation and first year of a Heart Clinic, formed to help people who have had heart attacks get follow up care in a non hospital setting. Most of the characters are sympathetic types. Even the bad ones come to sort of a resolution in the end. There's a women who is the...more
I usually try to broaden my literature tastes by trying about one more romantic than mystery type of book a year. This one I thought my friend will love, but before passing it to her, I tried it, as maybe one day, you know, one will end up finding something new of a different category that is actually enjoyable. And this was such.
I'm surprised I liked the book. Or maybe I now understand why I don't like most of the female love adventure books: they are most of the time written as an up...more
I'm surprised I liked the book. Or maybe I now understand why I don't like most of the female love adventure books: they are most of the time written as an up...more
I enjoy books with strong sense of place. I love to travel, and read while I travel, so many of my memories of good books are also tied to the places where I read them. For me, Julia Glass inspires thoughts of Italy while C.J. Box makes me think of Colorado. Recently I listened to Maeve Binchy’s newest book, Heart and Soul, while traveling in the Ozark Mountains. Heart and Soul is set in both Dublin and Poland and Binchy creates a strong sense of place within the story. Binchy is known for ...more
Whitethorn Woods was a huge disappointment to me so I wasn't sure if this book was going to end up the same but I loved it and felt that this was more like the old Binchy that I loved.
Back Cover Blurb:
Clara Casey has more than enough on her plate. Her daughters Adi and Linda were no problem during the usually turbulent teens. Now Adi is always fighting for or against something: the environment or the whale or battery farming; while Linda lurches from one unsatisfactory relations...more
Back Cover Blurb:
Clara Casey has more than enough on her plate. Her daughters Adi and Linda were no problem during the usually turbulent teens. Now Adi is always fighting for or against something: the environment or the whale or battery farming; while Linda lurches from one unsatisfactory relations...more
My Mum handed me this book after she had read it and as a fan of past Binchey books I thought I'd give it a try. What these books always guarantee is an easy read (especially more so in her more most recent ones) but this is always not such a good thing. What I enjoyed about her older books (The Glass Lake and the The Italian Class being particular examples) was the richness in family and friend relationships and the ramifications which they had over future generations. Although Heart and Soul w...more
It’s difficult to say anything negative about Maeve Binchy books. How can one fault books that are as warm and comfortable as a big fluffy blanket? True, there are some that are definitely better than others, some characters you care about more than others, but when all is said and done you always come away from reading a Binchy book appreciating the humor, compassion and Irish spirit that permeates each page.
In HEART AND SOUL, Binchy utilizes an underfunded heart clinic as the foc...more
In HEART AND SOUL, Binchy utilizes an underfunded heart clinic as the foc...more
Actually a 3.5 star- I would give it a 4 if there had been more tie in with the stories developed in other novels.
The book tells the story of the various people working in the new village Heart clinic.Many of the characters they interact with have been seen in other Binchy stories. However, little is done to tell the reader of their histories. The book is really interesting if the reader has had the good luck of reading after the prior novels but would be more confusing without the bac...more
The book tells the story of the various people working in the new village Heart clinic.Many of the characters they interact with have been seen in other Binchy stories. However, little is done to tell the reader of their histories. The book is really interesting if the reader has had the good luck of reading after the prior novels but would be more confusing without the bac...more
Heart and Soul is a new paperback by Maeve Binchy. It is published by Orion and its ISBN is 1409102319. Maeve Binchy is my favourite author so my expectations were very high and I was not disappointed. She makes something complex look very easy and that is her great skill and strength. She writes of ordinary people with ordinary problems in a compassionate and easy to read fashion. Somehow their lives interweave to make the tale complete. Occasionally she reintroduces old characters into her nov...more
I had heard years ago that Maeve Binchy was going to retire and not write anymore. Apparently retirement wasn't all it's cracked up to be because since that time she's written about 4 or 5 more books. Heart and Soul was slow to grab my attention but like all Binchy books, before you know it you are sucked into the lives of the characters and you just have to keep on reading. Binchy is the master of tying in characters from other books and Heart and Soul is a prime example of this. There are...more
Mary
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction
Recommended to Mary by:
Bookmooch
Dr.Clara Casey has been offered the thankless job of establishing an underfunded heart clinic in Ireland. She has quite enough on her plate already with two difficult adult daughters and the unwanted attentions of her ex-husband, but she assembles a wonderfully diverse staff devoted to helping their often difficult patients. There is the infectiously cheerful nurse, the indispensable office manager who can't quite manage her own life, the young Polish girl who came to Ireland to escape a bad lov...more
I recieved this book from my mother a few months back; she thought I'd enjoy a light read about Dublin.
The book is set in a newly formed heart clinic, St. Brigid's, designed to battle the ever increasing problem caused by the "Irish diet", which mainly consists of fried meats and an over abundance of starches. Dr. Clara Casey, a fiesty woman in her early 50s, has been hired to set up and run the new facility. Much of the book deals with how she has gone about selecting her...more
The book is set in a newly formed heart clinic, St. Brigid's, designed to battle the ever increasing problem caused by the "Irish diet", which mainly consists of fried meats and an over abundance of starches. Dr. Clara Casey, a fiesty woman in her early 50s, has been hired to set up and run the new facility. Much of the book deals with how she has gone about selecting her...more
(copied review) Dr. Clara Casey has been offered the thankless job of establishing the underfunded clinic and agrees to take it on for a year. She has plenty on her plate already—two difficult adult daughters and the unwanted attentions of her exhusband—but she assembles a wonderfully diverse staff devoted to helping their demanding, often difficult patients: the infectiously cheerful nurse; the indispensable office manager who can’t quite manage her own life; the Polish girl who’s come to Irela...more
This book is best read before Minding Frankie, sequel to Heart and Soul, but either can stand alone. Disparate characters, family love, and family dysfunction all contribute to sweet stories of budding romance and/or getting on with life. I really enjoyed the two women friends who plot to get their respective son and daughter to meet and fall in love, having convinced themselves that their offspring would be perfect together. It works, of course, because who knows better than the parent what ...more
Dr. Clara Casey accepts the job of establishing an underfunded heart clinic for a year. Right away she is able to assemble the perfect staff for the job (which I found highly unbelievable, but it would be cool if you only had to interview a couple of people for a position and after that everyone work together perfectly). Together they combat their money grubbing superior and work to make the clinic a huge success.
One of the things I love about Mave Binchy is the time she spends giving...more
One of the things I love about Mave Binchy is the time she spends giving...more
This is my second outing in a Maeve Binchy novel and I have enjoyed it every bit as much as my first exposure to this writer’s offerings. Ms. Binchy is Irish and many if not all of her best-selling novels are based on the folks she has lived amongst all of her life. She brings to her writing an adept skill at handling multiple story lines with considerable ease.
Dr. Clara Casey is a somewhat renowned cardiologist who has been asked to head up an outpatient clinic for patients with...more
Dr. Clara Casey is a somewhat renowned cardiologist who has been asked to head up an outpatient clinic for patients with...more
In Maeve Binchy’s “Heart and Soul,” we are immediately welcomed into a circle of warmth and comfort, as we are introduced to each character in this small “heart clinic” in Dublin, Ireland. Adjacent to the hospital, this newly created clinic offers after-care to heart patients—care with a very personal touch. Dr. Clara Casey heads up the clinic, but is known to all as “Clara.” This informality and the personal touch both irritate and gall the “money man” from the hospital side (Frank Ennis), w...more
This book is like a quilt made of many little stories from many characters of a Dublin Heart Medical Clinic. In it, we get to know Clara, its manager, and all the staff, family, friends and other acquaintences' lifes.
A very rich book that we cannot put aside.
Very Good Read.
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Uma vez mais, esta autora apresenta-nos um leque bastante rico de personagens cujas vidas se cruzam e se envolvem.
...more
A very rich book that we cannot put aside.
Very Good Read.
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Uma vez mais, esta autora apresenta-nos um leque bastante rico de personagens cujas vidas se cruzam e se envolvem.
...more
Maeve Binchy's books are always a true delight. When I read her books, I feel as though I truly know the characters and that I'm right there with them. I also especially enjoy how so many of the books are tied together with returning characters. If you enjoy stories with an Irish flavor and a happy, but not sappy outcome, then you will enjoy this book.
Dr. Clara Casey has been offered the thankless job of establishing the underfunded clinic and agrees to take it on for a year. She ...more
Dr. Clara Casey has been offered the thankless job of establishing the underfunded clinic and agrees to take it on for a year. She ...more
A Autora mais uma vez conseguiu conquistar-me.
Já li "Uma casa na Irlanda" há alguns anos, e lembro-me que adorei a forma como a autora fez seguir a história.
Pois aqui foi mais ou menos igual!
À volta de Clara e da sua clinica vamos vendo a Alma e o Coração de todos os envolvidos, desde os empregados, aos doentes e às suas familias.
Ao longo da história vamos dando o "nosso" próprio final para os diversos personagens, mas no final as surpresas são bem dif...more
Já li "Uma casa na Irlanda" há alguns anos, e lembro-me que adorei a forma como a autora fez seguir a história.
Pois aqui foi mais ou menos igual!
À volta de Clara e da sua clinica vamos vendo a Alma e o Coração de todos os envolvidos, desde os empregados, aos doentes e às suas familias.
Ao longo da história vamos dando o "nosso" próprio final para os diversos personagens, mas no final as surpresas são bem dif...more
I just love Binchy. No fancy footwook with the prose or the narrative. No perversion, abuse, or violence. No conspiracy theories or biblical ramifications. Just straight forward story-telling about people you might actually like to sit down and have a meal with. Brings back some characters from previous novels (not sure which ones - I really need "Cliff Notes" for pop literature) and introduces some new people. Very few authors write everyday people as well as Binchy does. A gre...more...more
After two less-than-stellar outings, Maeve Binchy is back. Her new novel, Heart and Soul, is a wonderful, fun read that takes readers inside a new heart clinic at St. Brigid’s Hospital.
Dr. Clara Casey has taken the job of creating the clinic out of a disused storage depot on St. Brigid’s ground. It’s unclear where Clara was before she took on the enormity of this task, but she has only one year, the length of her contract, to get the place up and running. Although she has full support o...more
Dr. Clara Casey has taken the job of creating the clinic out of a disused storage depot on St. Brigid’s ground. It’s unclear where Clara was before she took on the enormity of this task, but she has only one year, the length of her contract, to get the place up and running. Although she has full support o...more
3.5 stars
This was a sweet story that introduced you to many different characters. The format was different than any book I have ever read, but I liked it. It is totally PG. It kinda made me laugh a few times, that the story revolved around adult themes but would leave out sex. For example, the following sentences are all from the same short paragraph, "The were nervous of each other at first and making little jokes. 'We could always take our glass of wine into the bedroom' And after t...more
This was a sweet story that introduced you to many different characters. The format was different than any book I have ever read, but I liked it. It is totally PG. It kinda made me laugh a few times, that the story revolved around adult themes but would leave out sex. For example, the following sentences are all from the same short paragraph, "The were nervous of each other at first and making little jokes. 'We could always take our glass of wine into the bedroom' And after t...more
For more than twenty years, Maeve Binchy has been an auto-read for me. (And I think I've even shelled out for a hardcover or two). I loved her earlier books filled with tales of small Irish towns, petty, and not so petty grievances, and wonderfully complicated relationships. In 1996, however, with the book, Evening Class, I felt Ms. Binchy had made a left turn in her writing. Instead of writing novels, it seemed her books were more like short story collections. And with Whitethorn Woods, and...more
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Maeve Binchy was born in Dublin and came to fame first as London Correspondent for the IRISH TIMES. Her first novel, LIGHT A PENNY CANDLE, made her famous in the UK and USA. She lives in Dublin with her husband, Gordon Snell. - Fantastic Fiction
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