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8th out of 21 books
—
79 voters
Light A Penny Candle
by
Maeve Binchy
Evacuated from Blitz-battered London, shy and genteel Elizabeth White is sent to stay with the boisterous O'Connors in Kilgarret, Ireland. It is the beginning of an unshakeable bond between Elizabeth and Aisling O'Connor, a friendship which will endure through twenty turbulent years of change and chaos, joy and sorrow, soaring dreams and searing betrayals...
Writing with wa...more
Writing with wa...more
Paperback, 832 pages
Published
May 4th 2006
by Arrow
(first published 1982)
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O! Maeve Binchy...Ireland's own Jodi Picoult!
If you prefer to not think too hard while reading; if you are amused by all things Irish; or if you've never experienced the Binchy formula, then you would probably enjoy any number of her books. Binchy, like Picoult, is best enjoyed in isolation of any of her other writings.
I believe this is one of her better books, but I am probably influenced by the fact that it was the first of hers that I read. It chronicles a couple of decades of friendship bet...more
If you prefer to not think too hard while reading; if you are amused by all things Irish; or if you've never experienced the Binchy formula, then you would probably enjoy any number of her books. Binchy, like Picoult, is best enjoyed in isolation of any of her other writings.
I believe this is one of her better books, but I am probably influenced by the fact that it was the first of hers that I read. It chronicles a couple of decades of friendship bet...more
It's 1940s & Hitler is planning his war on England. To protect their 10 year old daughter Elizabeth, George White and his wife send her to Kilgarret, Ireland. Taken in by her mother's old school friend, Eileen O'Connor, & her husband Sean, Elizabeth quickly becomes inseparable from their vivacious daughter Aisling. It is Aisling who teaches Elizabeth to have faith in life and convinces her that if you light a penny candle at church, your most sacred wish will come true. Five years later,...more
Evacuated from Blitz-battered London, shy and genteel Elizabeth White is sent to stay with the boisterous O’Connors in Kilgarret, Ireland. It is the beginning of an unshakeable bond between Elizabeth and Aisling O’Connor, a friendship that will endure through twenty turbulent years of change and chaos, joy and sorrow, soaring dreams and searing betrayals. Through those years of friendship Aisling and Elizabeth wind in and out of each other’s lives. As they grow, fall in love, through happy times...more
I know all kinds of women who read Maeve Binchy. Friends and relatives all like her.
Why?
I think its partly because she writes so well about the Irish. She has a knack for showing what Irish Catholics do, believe in, think about etc.
“Light a Penny Candle” begins in the 1940's and ends in 1959. It tells of a very different era from our own. Now we counsel women to leave their alcoholic and violent husbands; then, Irish Catholic mothers told their daughters that it was their duty to stay with such...more
Why?
I think its partly because she writes so well about the Irish. She has a knack for showing what Irish Catholics do, believe in, think about etc.
“Light a Penny Candle” begins in the 1940's and ends in 1959. It tells of a very different era from our own. Now we counsel women to leave their alcoholic and violent husbands; then, Irish Catholic mothers told their daughters that it was their duty to stay with such...more
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1940s & Hitler is planning his war on England. To protect their 10 year old daughter Elizabeth, George White and his wife send her to Kilgarret, Ireland. Taken in by her mother's old school friend, Eileen O'Connor, & her husband Sean, Elizabeth quickly becomes inseparable from their vivacious daughter Aisling. It is Aisling who teaches Elizabeth to have faith in life and to live more fully engaged in each moment. Five years later, Elizabeth returns home armed with a new sense of independ...more
I was pretty disappointed in this book overall. It starts off well, and I was at first enjoying it a lot. But though the writing has energy and drive, the themes never are really given their due, the characters are introduced and barely slip out of a form character for the rest of the novel (which is meant to be 20 years of their lives), there isn't really any consequences to their actions, and I felt like the whole things was a bit shallow.
But rather than being totally negative I'll note the t...more
But rather than being totally negative I'll note the t...more
Two girls and their families are profiled in this book. Aisling is Irish, one of a number of kids in a large noisy family. Elizabeth is English, an only child. She is sent to Aisling's family during World War 2, as many children were sent to the country. Her mother had gone to school with Aisling's mother many years prior to this. Family dynamics are a big theme of this book. Elizabeth is shy, quiet and unsure of herself. In this large family with lots of affection she learns how to express hers...more
3.5 stars.
I won't go into the details of the book itself - other reviewers have done so. This is the first Maeve Binchy book I've read where I finished it and felt rather unsatisfied. I have become accustomed to (and a fan of) the way she spins a tale, weaves together the details, and above all exercises the patience to do the story justice.
However, the wheels seemed to come off the story, so to speak, in the middle of the final chapter. It felt like she got tired of writing it and wasn't sure...more
I won't go into the details of the book itself - other reviewers have done so. This is the first Maeve Binchy book I've read where I finished it and felt rather unsatisfied. I have become accustomed to (and a fan of) the way she spins a tale, weaves together the details, and above all exercises the patience to do the story justice.
However, the wheels seemed to come off the story, so to speak, in the middle of the final chapter. It felt like she got tired of writing it and wasn't sure...more
This is a book set in 1960's Ireland, back when the Catholic influence was strong still. This is an interesting book which opens up first in World War II. It details a frienship between a London evacuee and an Irish girl, Aisling, whose family has taken Vera in for the duration of the war.
This book fast forwards to when the two girls have become women in their own rights and details the ups and downs of their lives. Aisling marries the town 'squire,' but regrets it later when he shows his dark s...more
This book fast forwards to when the two girls have become women in their own rights and details the ups and downs of their lives. Aisling marries the town 'squire,' but regrets it later when he shows his dark s...more
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I will read just about any book that is has Ireland as a locale, so you have to take that into account. This was also the second book I read that took place, at least initially, during WWII. It's a challenge, being 600 pages, but I found that during the last 200 pages I couldn't put it down and ended up devouring it over the weekend. This is a study of two girls who were thrown together during the war, growing up together, dating, marrying and the tragic aftermaths of the marriages. They are ver...more
This was my first Binchy and I absolutely loved it until the last couple of chapters.
I felt perhaps since this was Binchy's first published book, maybe she struggled with how to end it. The main characters seemed to be "out of character" in the last few chapters and a lot of the way it ended didn't fit with the rest of the story.
I felt perhaps since this was Binchy's first published book, maybe she struggled with how to end it. The main characters seemed to be "out of character" in the last few chapters and a lot of the way it ended didn't fit with the rest of the story.
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The first time I read a Bnchy novel, I was like, “Is this her best novel yet?” Oh, right. This is just one out of many. Reading another of her novel has not ruined my expectations of finding her words as moving and her characters as lively and real as those in the first I’ve read.
Really, it’s like, the people in the novel are not mere icons of fiction but they actually seem like you’re personally hearing their conversations. Every word the characters say is breaking my heart for the innate geniu...more
Really, it’s like, the people in the novel are not mere icons of fiction but they actually seem like you’re personally hearing their conversations. Every word the characters say is breaking my heart for the innate geniu...more
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I found this certainly one of Maeve Binchy's more touching stories, even more so than The Glass Lake. The miscommunication between our leading ladies Aisling and Elizabeth was bordering on the point of frustration, wishing in their correspondence over the years each would completely speak their mind. However, this simply encapsulated the way things were at that time, particularly in the strict 1940/50s Ireland with staunch Roman Catholicism and the need to "keep up appearances" in a small town s...more
Oh Maeve, how I will miss you. This book I picked up for ten cents at a church sale in upstate New York, but it was worth much, much more. This follows the lives of two young girls - one born in Ireland and the other in England. They are children of old friends from boarding school and WWII is raging, so the English girl is sent to live with the Irish girl where it is safer. The plot follows the next 15 years (or so) of their lives. Really engrossing stuff. Maybe not if you are a guy - the only...more
Elizabeth and Aisling were childhood friends. Where Aisling was bold, Elizabeth was enclosed in a proper shell. Later, Aisling's support brought her Elizabeth through the painful end of her parents' chilly marriage. In return, Elizabeth's friendship helped Aisling endure her own unsatisfying marriage to a raging alcoholic. This is a story of two girls growing up, drifting apart, and coming back together.. It takes us from their childhood to their early thirties.
While the concept may appear simp...more
While the concept may appear simp...more
The very start of this book begins with the two main characters leaving a coroner’s office, and there are no details of just why they are there. The story then goes back to many years earlier when the two first met.
The beginning of the story follows exactly the blurb on the back of the cover: Elizabeth is sent to live with a strange Irish family for the duration of World War II, and forms a strong relationship with Aisling that carries on into their adult lives. However, once Elizabeth moved bac...more
The beginning of the story follows exactly the blurb on the back of the cover: Elizabeth is sent to live with a strange Irish family for the duration of World War II, and forms a strong relationship with Aisling that carries on into their adult lives. However, once Elizabeth moved bac...more
When my mother handed me this book, I scoffed. I didn't read books like this -- it looked like some kind of wifty romance to me. But I was getting on a plane, so, okay, I took it. Started reading it as the plane took off from LAX -- and then, suddenly, we were landing at JFK and I had no idea where the time had gone.
Thus began my love affair with Maeve Binchy.
This book is the story of British Elizabeth and Irish Aisling, who meet when Elizabeth is sent to live in Ireland during the London Blitz...more
Thus began my love affair with Maeve Binchy.
This book is the story of British Elizabeth and Irish Aisling, who meet when Elizabeth is sent to live in Ireland during the London Blitz...more
I first read this book almost 20 years ago - and loved it then as a teenager. So when I saw a copy in a second hand bookshop for $1 I had to buy it. Often when you return to an old favourite they have somehow shrunk with time but not this. MB is like putting on a comfortable cardie on a cold day and reminds me of hours spent reading in an armchair in our house which was tucked away out of site and where I could lose myself in a book for hours on end. This was one of her first and although her bo...more
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konusu karekterleri ateşböceği yoluna benziyodu. ama nedense daha bi hoşuma gitti bu. belki zaman ve mekanın etkisi..
kitaptaki mektuplar hoşuma gitti. hikayeye ayrı bi hava katıyodu. kızların arkadaşlıkları ailelerdeki sorunlar çok güzel anlatılmıştı. karakterler neyse o başladı öylede bitti.
kötü kısma gelecek olursak kitapta gerçek sevgi diye bi şey yoktu. belki aisiling ve elizabeth arasındaki arkadaşlık sadece..onun dışında, tam bi adam giriyo hikayeye hah buldu sonunda diyosun ki adamın saç...more
kitaptaki mektuplar hoşuma gitti. hikayeye ayrı bi hava katıyodu. kızların arkadaşlıkları ailelerdeki sorunlar çok güzel anlatılmıştı. karakterler neyse o başladı öylede bitti.
kötü kısma gelecek olursak kitapta gerçek sevgi diye bi şey yoktu. belki aisiling ve elizabeth arasındaki arkadaşlık sadece..onun dışında, tam bi adam giriyo hikayeye hah buldu sonunda diyosun ki adamın saç...more
I read of Maeve Binchy's death and thought I should at least give her books a try. The characters were interesting, and the family relationships were complex and (as far as I understand the dynamics of big families and only children) quite rich. The first half of the plot--about Elizabeth's evacuation to Ireland--was quite engrossing, and I enjoyed it. The post-war adult saga of the characters was less so--the plot resolved itself in a way very similar to other British writing about the 40s thro...more
Maeve Binchy is often a very good read. Not always. But this time, yes. This is one I put at the top of my list for her.
This novel re-creates a time, after WWII, in both England and Ireland, that rings very true. A story of two very different women, who follow different paths but remain friends in spite of all. It is realistic, speaks to the heart. It takes you away to a different time and place on a rainy and chill fall afternoon when it's just and you and the crackling fire.
The themes of frien...more
This novel re-creates a time, after WWII, in both England and Ireland, that rings very true. A story of two very different women, who follow different paths but remain friends in spite of all. It is realistic, speaks to the heart. It takes you away to a different time and place on a rainy and chill fall afternoon when it's just and you and the crackling fire.
The themes of frien...more
Evacuated from Blitz-battered London, shy and genteel Elizabeth White is sent to stay with the boisterous O’Connors in Kilgarret, Ireland. It is the beginning of an unshakeable bond between Elizabeth and Aisling O’Connor, a friendship that will endure through twenty turbulent years of change and chaos, joy and sorrow, soaring dreams and searing betrayals.
Writing with warmth, wit and great compassion, Maeve Binchy tells a magnificent story of the lives and loves of two women, bound together in a...more
Writing with warmth, wit and great compassion, Maeve Binchy tells a magnificent story of the lives and loves of two women, bound together in a...more
One of my favorite books of all time.
"Light a Penny Candle" was one of those novels whose ending wrecked what came before, so I liked it until the ending. I liked the characters' distinct personalities and lives, and I've always liked books that change perspective every so often. (Some parts were told from the point of view of the main character Elizabeth, and others were told from the point of view of her friend, Aisling.) I don't necessarily recommend this book, but I wouldn't discourage someone from reading it, either, although...more
Light a Penny Candle is one of Maeve Binchy's earlier published novels, I liked this book, but there is an improvement on her story-telling. This story is set in the time of WWII when British parents used to send their children away from the cities and bombs. In the case of Elizabeth, she was sent to Ireland where she meets her life-long friend Aisling. Light a Penny Candle brings one of Binchy's main themes throughout her books: strong friendships. And as always her stories are heart-warming an...more
This book started out being rather boring, but as the pages turned, the story became more and more interesting, with some twists and turns which I did not expect. The story follows Elizabeth White and Aisling O'Connor, an English and Irish girl respectively, thrown together at the beginning of the Second World War. Aisling's mother, Eileen, agreed to take in Elizabeth at her family home in Kilgarret, Ireland, after Elizabeth's mom, Violet, wrote to her to spare her daughter from the Blitz in Lon...more
I first read this book many years ago, it was the first of Maeve Binchy's books that I read and I found it very different to her other books. Where all her books are very engaging and involving, I found this one to be more realistic and true to life...in some ways. A real page turner, the characters are very engaging and the way Maeve leads us through the lives of the two girls and their families is totally intoxicating. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes reading historical fiction/peop...more
I find it hard to objectively review or even rate any of Maeve Binchy's books. I don't pick up any of her novels with the intent of exploring some deep philosophical or cultural questions. Instead, I approach each of her novels as an imaginary journey, a very long movie that plays out through words. The characters she creates in all of her novels are both realistic and engaging and Light a Penny Candle is no exception. Once again, I found myself breezing through the pages, so desperate to find o...more
Like many of the other reviewers I was a bit disappointed in the last few chapters (although not by the outcome itself) and some parts were a bit slow but I really enjoyed the book overall....i couldn't put it down during the last third or so. I had a hard time identifying with some if the characters...not sure if it was because they weren't well developed or I just have never people like that. If I could I would probably give this a 4.5 but I'll round up because of the strong female characters...more
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| Maeve Binchy | 7 | 33 | Apr 09, 2013 02:32am |
Maeve Binchy was born in Dalkey, County 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 passed away on July 30, 2012, at the age of 72.
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