[.ca] Copper Beech (ISBN 1857979990)

Wonderful author!:
Maeve Binchy can write a story with the best of them. Her characters come to life and the reader really cares about them, since she writes about their hope and dreams, as well as their activities. In The Copper Beech, Binchy details the lives of different people in a small Irish town. Most of the characters are local children who have carved their names in the copper beech tree outside of their school. She describes the class distinctions in the town, which sometimes separate those who have been schoolmates, after they leave their school days. The final chapter ties the characters together and lets the reader in on what has happened to the people that have been described throughout the book. This is a wonderful read!

Very Sweet Book:
I do rather think that the copper beech tree would have succumbed long ago to all those inroads on its bark. The book is that kind of interweaving story that I like so much. And Binchy succeeds in it very well. She makes a small village and its inhabitants come alive. Sex is there, but it's not detailed or obtrusive. And she moves among and between, about and around, her characters well. There is tension built within each chapter - which is about one person - and across the chapters. Her characters are fairly sharp. And everybody does not come to a happy ending. Although I find the marriage of Gloria Darcey a little hard to believe. For all of that, it is a light, enjoyable novel. There was, for all its problems, a simpler life in that Irish village. I sometimes wish for it.

Pedestrian:
I had never read Binchy and was not expecting much, since she regularly appears on bestseller lists. The entire plot can be summarized by the last chapter in which all of the characters lives are resolved into happy, rewarding ones with a wave of Binchy's word processor. Conflicts are resolved offstage, probably because she cannot write about anything more intense than a walk in the woods. Married couples are rewarded with precisely 3 children by the book's end and self-sacrificing types, like Maura, who is a thief and blackmailer, are given the town's love and sympathy. The world Binchy is writing about never existed; she completely ignores the challenges of historical setting and character development for the pablum of pop fiction.

Oh, to be Irish!:
The Copper Beech isn't a book for those looking for alot of fast paced action. Instead it's the kind of book that is slow paced and one you don't want to have end. Maeve Binchy has once again written a book that takes the reader to Ireland and introduces you to a town called Shancarrig, and the huge copper beech tree which watches over the town's school. Each character is explored, many from the time they were born, until they reach adulthood. The children at the school are often poor, such as Maura, who has grown up with an alcoholic father, but manages to make a good life for herself and her son, Michael, who is born with Down's Syndrome. And Maddie Ross, the school teacher, who has a secret love with the town's young priest. I listened to this on Recorded Books audio and the narrator had a beautiful Irish accent which just enhanced the story. I enjoyed every minute of it, as I have all of Maeve Binchy's other stories. A must for anyone.

Not Bad, But Not Her Most Uplifting Work, Either:
The other Binchy works I have read, Tara Road, The Glass Lake, Circle of Friends, even the Return Journey (a book of short stories) seem more balanced than this. Those seemed to address both the ups and downs of life. The Copper Beech seems more focused on the despairs. It is not poorly written, just a bit of a downer. Definitely not something to read if you are pregnant, as I am at the moment.