[.ca] Tara Road (ISBN 1552780805)

From Amazon.com:
Oprah Book Club® Selection, September 1999: Against all odds, two newlyweds manage to buy the house of their dreams. In 1982, property speculation is beginning to be a big, big thing in Dublin--and their street is very much in an up-and-coming part of town. "They laughed and hugged each other. Danny Lynch from the broken-down cottage in the back of beyond and Ria Johnson from the corner house in the big, shabby estate were not only living like gentry in a big Tara Road mansion, they were actually debating what style of dining table to buy." But for its various inhabitants, the street is to become a boulevard of dreams--some broken, others created anew. Maeve Binchy has long proved herself a secure hand at multiple story lines, and over the course of 500 satisfying pages she focuses on Ria; her best friend, Rosemary Ryan, a beautiful, endlessly selfish career woman; Gertie, the battered wife of a drunkard; and several other intriguing women, each of whom has secrets not to be shared. There is even an all-knowing fortune teller who early on hints that Ria will travel and start a successful business--two things she knows are definitely not in the offing. Yet after our supposedly happy housewife and mother of two is confronted by some inexorable home truths, a chance phone call from America will change her life, forcing her to discard her illusions about men, women, and marriage and start all over again. At the same time, the Connecticut caller, Marilyn Vine, has her own lessons to learn when she and Ria swap houses for the summer. Yet there's nothing remotely preachy about this novel--even the bad guys (and yes, they're usually guys) and beautiful mistresses get to maintain some appeal. Instead, Tara Road is a stirring look at the reality behind our consuming fantasies, and a page-turner to boot. --Siobhan Carson

Tara Road:
Having read several of Binchy_s works I went into Tara Road with an attitude of familiarity. So I, from the start, paid particular attention to the character developments of Nora and her young daughters, Hilary and Ria. The effort was certainly worthwhile. In the writer_s usual flow, giving us peaks of growth stages, she introduces us to another portion of the Dublin area and a diversified cross section of endearing and frustrating characters. I was suspicious of Rosemary from the beginning and Danny was the spark that Ria_s naïveté required. ... The humiliation of Ria_s attempt to hang on to what was already gone brought tears of identification to my eyes. Mona_s eventual reward was sweet without vindictiveness and Gertie_s loss was certainly her gain. Brian was my middle son_s irritating and adorable personality. And Colm_s last page plans leaves such hope in the end. Before I was anywhere near the middle of the book I had definite hopes and fears for the cadre of friends and foes I had come to know, know on a personal level. If there is any criticism on my part it is that the Americans sound rather English to me, but being a Westerner, maybe New Englanders really do sound that foreign. Nonetheless, a good read, a woman_s story with insight and generosity.

Maeve Binchy's stories are engaging:
I like Maeve Binchy, she tells great stories. Her characters are believable, engaging, and flawed, which makes them all the more endearing and relatable (is that a word? :-D). I have read most of her novels, and short stories, and she certainly knows how to get to the heart of human behaviour. Her character builds and plots are a bit "fluffy", but this just makes it really easy and fast to read her stories. The one flaw I find in Ms. Binchy's writing is the fact that her American characters' speech and thoughts often make them sound as if they were Irish. Which they are not supposed to be. I think this could be easily solved by having a North American do a quick dialogue edit for her of her North American characters, so they'll ring true. Sometimes you have to backtrack your reading to see who is speaking, which would not be necessary if they spoke the way real people do. Here's an example: (p. 351) - conversation between two Americans, Greg and Marilyn: 'Anyway, she seems to be getting on very well, she's cooking in John and Gerry's a couple of hours a day.' 'She's not!' 'Yes. Isn't she amazing? And Henry told me that he and Heidi were at a dinner party round there ...' 'Round where?' 'In the house. In Tudor Drive. There were eight of them apparently and ...' 'In our house? She had eight people in our house? To dinner?' 'Well, she knows them all pretty well now. Carlotta comes in for a swim every morning, Heidi's round there for coffee after work. It didn't take her long ...' 'It did not,' said Marilyn grimly. This isn't really the way Americans speak. They don't say "round" for "around"; they don't say "in" someone's workplace, but rather "at"; and they never refer to houses by saying "In+the name of the street address". It may sound picky, but the devil's in the details, and when you get them right, it's not even noticeable -- but when you don't, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Here's how the same exchange might sound, more realistically: 'AnywayS, she seems to be doing very well, she's cooking AT John and Gerry's a couple of hours a day.' 'She's not!' 'SHE IS. Isn't she amazing? And Henry told me that he and Heidi were at a dinner party OVER there ...' 'OVER where?' 'In YOUR house ON Tudor Drive. There were eight of them, apparently, and ...' 'In our house? She had eight people in our house? FOR dinner?' 'Well, she knows them all pretty well now. Carlotta comes in for a swim every morning, Heidi COMES OVER for coffee after work. It didn't take her long ...' 'It CERTAINLY DIDN'T,' said Marilyn grimly. This isn't even the best example passage. Just the first one I found leafing through the book. Not all passages ring false. Just enough in this particular novel (because one of the major characters is American) to drive a reader a bit nuts. Tara Road is a good story, as all of them are. And if you like Maeve Binchy, you'll LOVE Rosamund Pilcher, who is by far my favourite author, although Ms. Binchy is right up there too. :-D

I loved this book:
The characters are so rich and life like. I couldn't get enough, even though I was sleep deprived from staying up late to read!

Entertaining and light:
Nothing earthshattering, just a short, entertaining audio book which can stave off commute boredom. If you like this author or if you like romance novels in general, you'll probably like this audiobook.

502 pages and I still want more:
I loved this story, and I wish I could keep on living with them on Tara Road. Ria is exceptionally sweet, her desire to please makes her a tad oblivious. The author doesn't have to spell it out, we're all suspicious of Rosemary. But because this is Ria's story, we remain unknowledgeable of any wrongdoing until Marilyn enters the scene. When Ria threatens Danny with a fork in Colm's restaurant, I was really hoping she'd go through with it. Poke his eye out, Ria! All the characters are beautifully well-rounded, but there are quite a few of them. For some reason, I kept forgetting who Hilary was...! I went and bought this book, and hope to give it to my mother (though I know it'll take her eons to finish). So I'm here now to encourage you to read it right now, and share the story with me!