Light a Penny Candle
by Maeve Binchy
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Read in December, 2007
This is the second of Maeve Binchy's books that I've read, but the first that she published. The first one I read was Circle of Friends, and I liked it better.
Maeve Binchy writes about the lives of pretty ordinary people in one of my least favorite decades - the 1950s. I think she captures the feeling of that time very well. There's not a lot of plot or action - it's really about the intersection of character and time. Her characters are types that I recognize, and she's done a good job ...more
Maeve Binchy writes about the lives of pretty ordinary people in one of my least favorite decades - the 1950s. I think she captures the feeling of that time very well. There's not a lot of plot or action - it's really about the intersection of character and time. Her characters are types that I recognize, and she's done a good job ...more
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Why are Maeve Binchy's books so darn engrossing? The characters are rarely three-dimensional, the plots are predictable, the sentences are run-on...I think it's two things, for me. First is the feeling of visiting another country. I don't know if Binchy portrays the real Ireland, but she definitely creates a fully-realized world that's totally foreign to my own. Second, she is a dab hand at writing true mother-daughter relationships that don't vilify daughters or short-change mothers. Not an eas...more
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This book is about 2 best friends growing up in Europe in the early 1930's. I chose to read this book because one of my read-aholic friends said it was her favorite book of all time. Well, I did enjoy it in general but the ending was super un-impressive. A couple years ago, I had tried to read Tara Road (by the same author) and remember quitting reading it because I was so bored. I think the author has a good voice for articulating the strange ways of women, but there's just something missin...more
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Read in April, 2008
A good story. The ending was hurried I thought but perfect. Interesting to note how once upon a time family business was kept in the family and not broadcasted all over the place. I am not saying what the characters did in the end was right, but just noting how at one point not everyone was anxious to be on 'Jerry Springer'. I am sure there is a happy medium. I hope I am alive to see it.
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Read in January, 2005
This one also my favourite of Binchys, and it took me so long to find this.
I already tried QB and Ak.sa.ra, and I ended up at Limma Bookstore- Books at Your Doorstep-.
The story was about the friendship of two little girls until they become young women, and he way they got through the thick and thin of lives.
Like always, I love the way Binchy described this!
I already tried QB and Ak.sa.ra, and I ended up at Limma Bookstore- Books at Your Doorstep-.
The story was about the friendship of two little girls until they become young women, and he way they got through the thick and thin of lives.
Like always, I love the way Binchy described this!
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Read in September, 2006
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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Read in April, 2008
I really really loved it until abou the last 75 or 100 pages. I jsut wasn't happy with how things took a turn for the worst there at the end. So I took away a star. But a great read and I really should know better than to expect a "happily ever after" from Maeve Binchy. Oh well. Really liked it in general.
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Read in April, 2008
I've always wanted to read a book by this author, and chose this as the first. The ending was a bit disappointing. It felt like she had to end it quick because the book was getting too long, so she just tried to wrap everything up fast. The beginning storyline of the two girls in Ireland was the best part.
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Seriously, Maeve? I read you for cozy entertainment, knowing that things will right themselves in the end through pluck, determination, and seeing the good in things. This is what you give me? The time to change your formula is on your first or second book, not the ten millionth.
Not recommended.
Not recommended.
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This was the first novel to grab my whole being and take me for a ride. I will never forget the characters in this delightful story. I don't know if it would do the same thing for me today that it did seventeen years ago, but I am so glad it grabbed my attention then.
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I read this years and years ago when it first came out. It's about an irish catholic and and irish protestant girl who become friends in spite of the difficulties. Made me a lifelong Maeve Binch fan. Now that I think of it, it's been so long I might have to read it again.
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I love all Maeve Binchy books, some more than others. I find that when I am reading them, I get very involved with what is happening, and then when the book ends, I don't want to stop reading about their complicated, intertwined lives. She is such a wonderful author.
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Read in July, 2008
Not my favorite Maeve Binchy novel (that would be Circle of Friends!). I was a bit bothered by the ending as well. I did, however, get a recommendation from a woman over here to try The Glass Lake by the same author - she said it was her favorite one.
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This is my favorite Maeve Binchey novel. The story of two young women from different religeous backgrounds growing up together in Ireland. Maeve Binchey really knows how to write about people in an honest and realistic way. She is a phenomenal writer.
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Top five Binchy book for me, I loved the family in this book and want them to adopt me, sort of! I just really feel like her characters are real, live people that I actually know and love...sign of a great writer too me.
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Read in January, 1998
This is a great story about a friendship forged in England during World War 2...it takes a bit to get into, but just like her other books, once it picks up, it twists and develops and interweaves very well...
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Read in April, 2008
I thought the book started slow but then picked up and really kept you wanting to read but then at the end it felt like the author just got sick of writing it and quickly ended the book. It was a let down.
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I really liked this book until the last chapter. It really pissed me off that the author saw fit to keep the two main characters lives absolutely parallel by having a not-needed tragedy occur at the end.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
I love this book for some reason...I read it several times a year. Maeve Binchy's characters are amazing. At least in her old books, her newer books lack that realism that makes her writing so amazing.
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Read in January, 1984
I read this just as my best friend and I were preparing to go to different colleges. The story of two friends far apart stuck with me over the years. FYI - She's still my best friend 24 years later!
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