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    <![CDATA[Nights of Rain and Stars]]>
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    <![CDATA[In a tiny Greek seaside village, tourists enter a hilltop tavern, alone and in pairs, for a casual lunch. But a sudden tragedy in the harbor below brings them together, changing perfect strangers into unlikely friends. In the days that follow, their paths continue to cross and their secrets begin to unfold. Fiona left a nursing career in Ireland to be with a man everyone thinks is wrong for her. Elsa fled Germany once she learned the secrets the man she loves had been hiding from her. Thomas mourns his failed marriage and misses his son in California, while David yearns to reconcile with his family in England without having to go into the family business. Chance has brought them together in the middle of their separate journeys, and together they will find new ways of looking at the lives they left behind.]]>
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        <name><![CDATA[Maeve Binchy]]></name>
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  <body>To think I worry so much about editing my books! Parts of this book read like a first draft.  Where was the editor???</body>
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    <body><![CDATA[I have to start this review by saying, I am usually a fan of Maeve Binchy’s writing.  I loved ‘The Glass Lake’ and ‘Evening Class’.  I was disappointed by this novel.  ‘Nights of Rain and Stars’ is set on a small Greek Village, Aghia Anna.  Four tourists meet for the first time at a small cafe high on the mountains overlooking the sea.  They all witness a tragedy - a boat catches fire and the people on board are killed in front of their eyes.  The novel starts with promise, but I’m afraid I lost interest very quickly.  I’ll start with the good points about the novel.  There is no doubt that Maeve Binchy is a good storyteller, and even though it is not a great book, I was still able to read it all the way through without giving up on it.  The summer holiday atmosphere is very well presented, and no doubt this would make a good beach read where the reader is not really bothered about the writing style or the outcome, but just wants to pass a bit of time.  Now to the bad points.  In my opinion, the main characters (the four tourists) were all stereotypes, as were the Greek villagers.  Many of the characters appeared to have no backbone, or were totally unable to make up their minds about anything, going back and forth over the same problems and not making any progress.  Then suddenly a mad old Irish woman who sleeps in a hen house,and had once been an alcoholic, solves all their problems.  They all end up deciding what to do about their lives based on her advice, and in my view, they all make very strange (and unbelieveable) decisions.  I don’t think Binchy did a very good job in developing the characters.  They have very little personality.  My final comment: Orion is a big publishing company, right?  Surely they must employ editors??  There is little evidence that any editor was involved in the publication of this book.  ]]></body>
    
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