Maeve's Times: In Her Own Words

by Maeve Binchy

Five decades of selected writings from the Irish Times by the beloved and best-selling author, filled with her hallmark humor, candor, and wisdom-a timeless gift to her legion of fans.

Maeve Binchy once confessed: "As someone who fell off a chair not long ago trying to hear what they were saying at the next table in a restaurant, I suppose I am obsessively interested in what some might consider the trivia of other people's lives." She was an accidental journalist, yet from the beginning, her writings reflected the warmth, wit, and keen human interest that readers would come to love in her fiction. From the royal wedding to boring airplane companions, Samuel Beckett to Margaret Thatcher, "senior moments" to life as a waitress, Maeve's Times gives us wonderful insight into a changing Ireland as it celebrates the work of one of our best-loved writers in all its diversity-revealing her characteristic directness, laugh-out-loud humor, and unswerving gaze into the true heart of a matter.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Ireland, Short Stories, Essays, Biography, Irish Literature

401 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 12, 2013

About the author

Anne Maeve Binchy Snell was an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, columnist, and speaker. Her novels were characterised by a sympathetic and often humorous portrayal of small-town life in Ireland, and surprise endings. Her novels, which were translated into 37 languages, sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Her death at age 73, announced by Vincent Browne on Irish television late on 30 July 2012, was mourned as the death of one of Ireland's best-loved and most recognisable writers.
She appeared in the US market, featuring on The New York Times Best Seller list and in Oprah's Book Club. Recognised for her "total absence of malice" and generosity to other writers, she finished third in a 2000 poll for World Book Day, ahead of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Stephen King.

Reviews

[Kruthika Prakash · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there is one author I’d want to read almost everyday, it's Maeve. I am reading one story a day and they're brilliant, warm, and lively. I don't want to rush with the book; I want Maeve to stay with me for longer. So, savouring the book little-by-little will bring a smile on my face everyday for the coming few weeks. I am reading this alongside PG Wodehouse and a few other books. Once you read the book, you can never re-live the experience of reading it for the first time. So, looking forward to this once in a lifetime opportunity :)

[Adam Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.

Someone once said reading Maeve Binchy is like sitting down to a cup of tea with an old friend and it’s the perfect analogy. I met her only once at a book signing but I loved her and I felt like I knew her through her writing.

She wasn’t the most thin and attractive woman but I believe this helped develop her fantastic personality which shone to the corners of the earth. She once said of her books that she didn’t believe the ugly duckling had to grow up into a swan, that it could mature and become a very nice duck, thank you very much.

These fantastic stories all illustrate a long career with the Irish Times, something I had never known about previously. There’s a real cross section here, all written in the trademark Binchy style. Some of them will make you laugh, almost all make you think, and generally I really appreciated having a window into her life. It was like an autobiography of sorts at times and I loved learning more about this amazing woman.

The Jewish story floored me, the story about the abortion was fantastic and should be required reading for those opposed to legalization. Some stories lost me a little, there was a lot of coverage of royal weddings and while I appreciated learning more about Maeve’s past, that she had been to the weddings of three of Elizabeth’s four children, it was more than I cared to know in detail so I skipped some of these parts.

I would like a sequel, I’m sure there’s more articles that could be reprinted.

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very nice collection of the author's columns from the Irish Times newspaper, divided into decades starting in 1964 and ending in 2012.

I liked the early ones best, I must admit. They seemed so fresh and funny. Later on here and there were pieces on various politicians or reactions to government situations and those I tended to skim and/or skip.

Insightful pieces and Charles and Diana also intrigued me. Since the whole world was witness to their lives (I remember watching the wedding and of course years later her funeral) it was moving to see Binchy's thoughts recorded in the moment.

Overall a pleasant read, and one I will pass along to my Mom, who has a backlog built up of fiction titles by the author, but I'm sure she will enjoy these as well.

[Negin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been a huge fan of Maeve for many years and was looking forward to reading this compilation of short stories and articles that she had written for “The Irish Times” through a few decades. Some of the pieces were enjoyable and others not so much. I ended up skimming through those. I would only recommend this book for Maeve fans, if that.

One of my favorite quotes:

“Last year I had a friend who was given three months to live, and I asked him to tell me what were the best things people could do and what were the worst. He said the very worst thing to do was to send Get Well card, one with bunny rabbits crying into spotted handkerchiefs and saying, ‘Sorry to hear that you are not so well.’ He used to look at those cards blankly and knew that they were the conditioned response and automatic reflex of people who meant desperately well, but who had to hide behind totally inappropriate greeting cards. He wanted to reply on another card, saying, ‘I’m trying, God damn it.’ But he didn’t. And he didn’t because he knew that the idiotic bits of card with hospital beds and sexy nurses and thermometers and bad puns hid the real message of sympathy and huge distress. He said that he really didn’t like people urging him to get another opinion and saying that it couldn’t do any harm. It would do harm, he thought, because it would waste time, the one thing there wasn’t much of left. He preferred people to call it cancer if they spoke of it at all, rather than use some euphemism, and he also wished that he didn’t have to spend so much time thanking people politely for their suggestions of healing crystals, prayers Never Known to Fail, or the laying on of hands by someone who lived half a continent away.
Those of us who knew him well and asked him how he wanted to do it were told. He wanted to remember the good, laugh at the funny, hear all the gossip, and try to be as normal as possible. Even though he could no longer eat, he wanted to come to restaurants with us and didn’t want to see anyone wince when he told the waiter he was on a diet.
He did love to hear from the many people he had known during his life, saying briefly that they had heard about his diagnosis and that they were sorry. Letters that then went on to say things he could hold on to, things about time well spent, marvelous places seen, and memories that would live forever. All this brought a smile to his face and made the tapestry richer and less laced with regret.”

Maeve dedicated almost all of her books to her husband, Gordon. Here’s a lovely picture of them together.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I have read all, or nearly all of Maeve Binchy's fiction. I have often thought she had a great ear for dialogue and good observation skills when it comes to pointing out quirky human behavior. I never knew she was a journalist, but it certainly makes sense that she may have polished those skills writing about real people and events before writing fiction. This is a collection of her columns from The Irish Times, and it spans her career from the 60s up to the 2000s.

In one of my favorite selections, she describes developing a writing style. "Don't worry about style, if you speak like yourself for long enough, the style will be there. It will be your style. You will be writing like yourself. You will have found your own voice." I certainly think over the years, she wrote like herself and she did have her own distinct voice in her fiction.

Another favorite concerns how to treat people with a terminal illness. Hint: a "get well soon" card - maybe not.

Also, it made me laugh when she was talking about having a bra custom made. She said she looked "like the prow of a ship". Which I distinctly remember Benny saying in Circle of Friends as she looks at herself dressed up for a dance.

I enjoyed the stories she wrote about everyday people. These stories, like her fiction, sound like her. Less enjoyable, for me, are the observations about political figures and entertainers, as I'm not familiar with Irish and English politics and culture of the 60s-80s.

[Mady · Rating 4 out of 5]

This includes some of Maeve Binchy’s articles published in the Irish Times covering a period of about 40 years (?).

Because these are rather short articles, my (overworked) brain was often lost when I came back to the audiobook.
But an extra star for the excellent narrator Kate Binchy.

[Patricia Fawcett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have enjoyed Maeve's books as comfort-reading for many years. Her warmth and engagement with her characters shines through; right always triumphs. Yet behind all this, Maeve, having initially trained as a teacher, became a highly-successful journalist on an international scale. Working in a busy office on Saturday mornings, I scrambled to find time to grab a copy of the 'Irish Times' for Maeve's weekly column. And I wasn't the only one - my colleagues were male and enjoyed Maeve's astute asides and comments on life every bit as much as I did. We would often discuss the content of each article over coffee. There was much more to Maeve than a writer of hugely-enjoyable novels. Her natural modesty belied a towering intellect. How wonderful to have the opportunity to revisit the journalistic aspect of her writing. This is a book I will revisit, again and again.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely read that includes Maeve Binchy's writing for the Irish Times from the 60's into the 2000's. A delightful read...a great travel book.

[Jackie Mceachern · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to begin by saying that I am huge fan of Maeve Binchy's works of fiction. Her death was a huge blow to the literary world, in my opinion, but I'm grateful to have so many of her books to enjoy. I was excited to find this collection of columns that he had written, over the span of decades, in the Irish Times. I so enjoyed this travel back in time with Maeve and, as always, completely loved her honest, direct writing. It felt like having a conversation with her so I'm grateful that it was put together. But, it made me realize how much I will miss her writing.

[Biblio Files (takingadayoff) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first Maeve Binchy book. Her novels are not the sort of book I normally read, but I love collections of essays, letters, and articles by good writers. This fits the bill. I picked it up in an airport bookshop before a long flight, and it was perfect for that.

Maeve's Times covers Binchy's writing career from the beginning in the 1960s up to right before she died in 2012. In addition to writing a slew of novels and other fiction, she wrote for The Irish Times newspaper in a variety of roles -- columnist, correspondent, reporter. This book collects much of her writing from The Irish Times.

What I found most remarkable is that from the very beginning, she had a conversational and informative style. She seemed always to be thinking in terms of stories, which is of course great for a novelist, but also is quite effective for a reporter. Her later writing has the same easy yet professional tone as the earlier pieces, but there are more opinionated essays, as you might expect. I enjoyed all of them

As a bonus, there's an interview she did in 2012, as well as a short story. So I actually have read some of her fiction now, and just may have to try some more.

[Minty McBunny · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Maeve Binchy, but this was almost unreadable. I just couldn't get interested in these short little blurbs, there were no characters and no plot, very little charm, all the things I read her for. This just seems like a way to cash in on her after her death.

[Meg - A Bookish Affair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this review and more at my blog: https://abookishaffair.blogspot.com/

Maeve Binchy's writing for me is the equivalent of a warm hug or a warm cup of tea. It is comforting and fills you up with sweetness. Losing her almost ten years ago now was a hard loss for the literary world but fortunately, she left behind a wealth of writing to go back to. This particular book is a collection of her writing for The Irish Times. It covers every decade from the 1960s until the 2000s. Within the pages, you can see the changing times all through her witty, warm lens.

A keen observer of the world around her, these articles are at their best when they are recounting the ordinary everyday and turning it into the extraordinary universal. I loved the article about her striking up conversations on the airplane with strangers (whether or not she wanted to). Being a fellow royal watcher, I also really liked reading her observations as some of the big events in the British Royal Family happened (imagining Fergie trying to put on her best behavior before another showing, royal weddings, etc.).

I also loved that this book covered such a wide swath of time. You can see how Binchy's writing changed and progressed as well as how the times and things around her changed. This is a great book for both those who already know and love Binchy's writing as well as those who are new to her. This could be the beginning of a beautiful reading relationship!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and eclectic collection of columns by acclaimed author Maeve Binchy, who wrote columns for THE IRISH TIMES for almost fifty years. There were many very strong elements of this collection. First, Maeve's writing style is easy to read, and her sense of humour and personality shine in almost every piece. Second, she is an astute political commentator and a good analyst of the times she is living in. I particularly enjoyed her pieces about Irish and European politics and the Royal Family. Third, she is not afraid to touch upon some difficult and controversial issues such as abortion. Finally, her writing is readable and conversational throughout, so that you can choose to take your time or read through quite a bit of this book at once, and either way it will feel like an intimate and conspiratorial conversation with a good friend.
Unfortunately, despite all of these very positive aspects, I cannot give this book four stars. Why? For one, I felt the number of pieces (the majority of them very short) was too much here. I would get immersed in a piece and finish it almost wanting more. Or, a piece would be so lighthearted as to be almost silly and I would wonder why it was considered good enough to be included. This was not a perfect reading experience for me, and I was glad to reach the end of this book. That said, I did find Binchy's writing style, humour and political opinions very engaging. Though her books are not at the top of my list, I may seek out one of her novels if I am looking for a heartwarming and pleasant read.

[Hannie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ik heb getwijfeld tussen twee en drie sterren. Er zaten leuke verhalen tussen en het bonusverhaal aan het einde is eveneens leuk. En ik heb ook genoten van de verhalen over haar persoonlijke leven. Toch zaten er ook saaie verhalen tussen, waarbij ik soms dacht: waar leidt het heen. Omdat het Maeve Binchy is, heb ik het aantal sterren afgerond naar boven. Zij is een van mijn favoriete schrijfsters en het is jammer dat ze niet meer leeft. Overigens denk ik dat ze dit boek - dat na haar dood verscheen en stukken bevat die ze schreef als journalist - zelf niet had uitgegeven als ze nog geleefd had. Het heeft niet hetzelfde niveau als haar andere boeken. Ik lees bijna nooit boeken die verschenen zijn na iemands dood, omdat ze meestal tegenvallen. Helaas was dat met dit boek ook het geval.

[Lizp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magical.

I thought I had read everything written by Maeve Binchy, but I hadn’t. I came across Maeve’s Times the other day, which is a collection of hers published posthumously by her great love, Gordon Snell.
Snell has put this collection together so wonderfully well. Whilst I had read some of the short stories before, I had never encountered the incisive piece Maeve wrote for the Irish Times about the Cypriot conflict in 1974. Similarly, I had never read the piece she wrote on The Herald of Free Enterprise disaster in 1987. It was heartrending.

I really enjoyed the stories she wrote about the seven weeks she spent in Sydney in 1993, going to the opening of Dancing at Lughnasa at the Sydney Opera House, etc. Lughnasa is a favourite of mine. She mentions meeting the Irish Ambassador, Martin Burke. He was called Brian Burke ( notorious! ) but that matters little.

There’s a story on her interviewing Beckett, which is amazing. She brought him to life so well that I almost felt I was in the room with them. Similarly, the account of her interview with Charlie Haughey struck a chord with me. There’s a story called Mrs Perfect that is also well worth a read.

This is a collection that I will treasure. It takes us from the 1960s through to the 2000s, with an interesting commentary on changing norms in Ireland. There’s a short story on condoms that is hilarious.

Kudos to Gordon Snell for giving us this treasure house of stories.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of Maeve Binchy’s short journalism pieces set in Ireland and the UK shows her both as a born storyteller and as a journalist able to objectively portray tragedy and/or humor in the stories she writes.

[Heidi Burkhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories and articles that Binchy wrote over the years. I was charmed by their "quirky-ness." Enjoyable summer reading.

[Cait]

Wonderful Maeve ... I truly laughed out loud many times reading this. She feels like an old friend.

[Obsidian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book for less than $7 in a bargain bin so that's a positive.

Now all of the cons.

I really wish that I had just skipped reading this and or borrowed from the library. I really do love most of Binchy's books. I honestly thought this were short stories or other writings she had that would have some type of theme. Instead the publisher just pulled writings and separated them by the year/decade they were written. The first two decades (the 50s and the 60s) at least seemed to have a theme with the writings that were provided to be read. You get to see an ever evolving woman and one that may not be as independent as she would like. You read about women who have their hopes built up and have to crash land back to reality. I was all for that.

The rest of the book the (70s through 2000s) were just nonsensical for the most part. I really wish the publisher had not included stories about Maeve in this one either. A few times I got confused and realized I was reading something that happened to the author and then we would go back to fictionalized writing.

I also really wish all of the writings on the Royal family had been left out. I guess people in the UK, Ireland, etc. would find it fascinating. I was just bored. It read like a fan fiction account of the Royal family and you get to read how everyone stopped to watch Diana marry Charles and then William marry Kate. There was nothing earth shattering about those stories to me. Frankly, they read like filler.

[Amy Paget · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like many readers, I have long enjoyed the atmospheric and character-driven fiction of best-selling author Maeve Binchy. Her death in 2012, was a loss. Being so prolific, the loss was somewhat ameliorated by the posthumous publishing in 2013 of Maeve’s Times and in 2014 of Chestnut Street. It’s Maeve’s Times: In Her Own Words that has captured my attention recently and revealed a whole different aspect of Binchy’s writing life. As the fly leaf notes, Binchy was an ‘accidental journalist’, with her first articles being travel tales written as a teenager and submitted to the Irish Times by her father. What followed was a 40 year career writing a weekly column for The Irish Times and it’s the best of these columns that are collected in Maeve’s Times. Whether writing about “How to Speak Proper” or her meeting with Samuel Beckett, these columns are masterful examples of the personal essay form, full of wit, humor, and a keen understanding of the human character and society. Highly recommended.

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Binchy’s fiction, so this had high expectations. This is a collection of articles Binchy wrote for the Irish Times. It contains a combination of a handful of news stories along with many articles that were columns or features in the paper. I expected the kind of personal storytelling and drama she provides in her books, but these shorter pieces didn’t go on long enough to establish anything very compelling. While there were a few stories that had the start of that drama, it wasn’t enough. Most of the columns here are personal reflections with some humor, but they are very self-effacing, too much to read in one sitting. She plays up her low opinion of herself over and over, for the humor. Even though I usually like books that are collected local newspaper columns, I found this overall not my cup of tea, although there were a number of stories and anecdotes I did find funny and/or well written. Favorite story – her hilariously inappropriate selection of photos for veal recipes in the “Cookery” section of the paper.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this as an ARC and wanted to read it from the blurb mentioning how Maeve almost fell out of her chair trying to eavesdrop on someone dining near her. I recognized her name but have never read any of her books but I think I might try some now. This is a series of her newspaper columns dating back to the 1960s until the early 2000s and I did enjoy it. One of her columns from the 1960s was about taking a field trip with her class and it made me laugh out loud, as did several others. She of course taught in Ireland, at a private school and I teach at a public school in the U.S. 50 years later but some aggravations never change; collecting money from the students, worrying about what parents will complain about and of course making sure you don't lose anyone. All in all it's a fun book to read.

[Margie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I have been a fan of Maeve Binchy's novels for many, many years, this was my first encounter with her newspaper columns which she wrote for more than fifty years. No wonder she was such a familiar and beloved writer in Ireland where her columns came out weekly. She wrote the columns as if she were having a nice chat and cup of tea with you across the kitchen table. Her first columns were actually letters describing her travels which she sent to her parents. Her father loved them and decided they were too good not to share with the local newspaper. Thus started Maeve's fifty year career in journalism and we have her father to thank! I am grateful that Maeve Binchy was so prolific because she died too young at age 72 in 2012. This book is a delightful read for anyone who loves Maeve Binchy.

[Peggy Morley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love maeve binchy books but I didn't enjoy this one short stories not for me

[Bernadette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every newspaper needs a no-nonsense columnist, a keen observer of people, someone not afraid to state their opinion, especially when they do it brilliantly with a sense of humor. Maeve Binchy was such a treasure for the Irish Times beginning in 1968 through the 2000s. This well edited collection of her work charmed me, made me cry, had me laughing out loud and seeing myself in so many of her pronouncements on the hassles and joys of daily living. She was the Irish version of Erma Bombeck, who could poke fun at boring airplane companions, senior moments, living alone, fashions for the larger woman, the English obsession with the royal family, political process and much more. Binchy's ability to laugh at herself endeared her to her readers and enabled them to see the humanity in so many situations including mothers marching against missile installations and social workers trying to carry out the difficult task of serving the needs of the elderly. While Binchy is no doubt best known worldwide as a novelist, she was a journalist first. So many readers of the Irish Times got a regular uplift from her columns. While I did not understand all the Irish/UK politics and regional references, I certainly gained insight into the Irish heart, thanks to Maeve Binchy. This book is a keeper.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of Binchy's writing from fifty years for The Irish Times

Good thing: Several of these touched me. I remembered watching Charles and Diana's wedding over and over - the article about this brought back these good memories. Binchy's telling of a friend's advice about how to be around someone who is dying resonated with the memory of the passing of one of my friends.

Bad thing: I know little to nothing about English and Irish politics so these articles went over my head.

I've never read any of Maeve Binchy's fiction but have always intended to. Reading this put her higher on my mental to-be-read list.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maeve's Times is a collection of Maeve Binchy's columns in the Irish Times from the 1960s up to the mid 2000s which pretty much spans her career. She has been one of my favorite authors over the years so this was fun to read a column at a time. Because she is Irish writing for an Irish/British audience over a span of nearly 50 years, I didn't always "get" everything in her columns, but I understood enough to appreciate her very human approach to the everyday details of life. She also departs from stories about the mundane to comment on Margaret Thatcher, other politicians and the Royal Family. In retrospect, it's interesting to read Maeve's views of these famous people and in particular the royal marriages. Maeve Binchy was a very talented writer; it is unfortunate she is no longer with us but her work lives on through this book and other works published after her death.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love author Maeve Binchy and have read all of her novels. This book is a bit different - it's a collection of articles she wrote as a journalist, when she was a Women's Page editor for the Irish Times. Her columns vary from personal stories to a collection of anecdotes. The latter group reads very much like her novels - the wording is the same, you can completely feel the characters, and there are many tragic elements. Some entries felt rather dated or even a bit long-winded. Overall, however, I enjoyed re-visiting with the late Binchy through this book.

[AnnMarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So sad to think there will not be more Maeve Binchy books! She was such a lovely writer! She always makes me laugh out loud and smile! She will always make me think of my grandmother as well who first introduced me to Maeve Binchy!

[Evelyn Petschek · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars rounded up. Such fun! A collection of the author’s columns publishes in the Irish Times. She is persceptive, informative and very funny! I listened while traveling through Ireland - and it was the perfect complement to my journey! Excellent audio by the author’s daughter!