Binchy, Maeve (1940- ), short-story writer and novelist; born in Dublin and educated at UCD. Beginning as a teacher, she became a journalist in the late 1960s and has published several selections from her long-running Irish Times weekly column. Her career in fiction began with collections of London stories linked by place, Central Line (1977) and Victoria Line (1980), followed by two with Irish settings, Dublin 4 (1982) and The Lilac Bus (1984). Her first novel, Light a Penny Candle (1982), became a best-seller, while Echoes (1985), Firefly Summer (1987), Silver Wedding (1988), Circle of Friends (1990), and Evening Class (1996) have secured her international standing as an immensely popular author. Her warm-hearted novels are tinged with nostalgia for the Ireland of a few decades ago in which they are generally set, offering a tolerant view of ordinary, sympathetic characters involved in episodes of Irish family life. The Copper Beech (1992) and The Glass Lake (1994) concern small-town loves and jealousies, and the search for freedom.
Maeve Binchy
| Irish Literature Companion: Maeve Binchy |
| Wikipedia: Maeve Binchy |
| Maeve Binchy | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 28 May 1940 Dalkey, County Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Notable work(s) | Circle of Friends |
| Official website | |
Maeve Binchy (born 28 May 1940 Dalkey, County Dublin)[1][2] is an Irish novelist, newspaper columnist and speaker. Educated at University College Dublin,[1][2] she worked as a teacher[2][3] then a journalist at The Irish Times[2] and later become a writer of novels and short stories.
Many of her novels are set in Ireland, dealing with the tensions between urban and rural life, the contrasts between England and Ireland, and the dramatic changes in Ireland between World War II and the present day.
Her novel Circle of Friends was made into a 1995 Hollywood movie starring Chris O'Donnell and Minnie Driver with a radical change of ending.[4]
Binchy announced in 2000 that she would not be going on tours with any more novels, but would be devoting her time to other activities, and to her husband, Gordon Snell, a children's author. However, she has written four further novels since then — Quentins, Night of Rain and Stars, Whitethorn Woods, and Heart and Soul.
In 1978, Binchy won a Jacob's Award for her RTÉ play, Deeply Regretted By. A second award went to the lead actor, Donall Farmer. A 1993 photograph of her by Richard Whitehead belongs to the collection of the National Portrait Gallery (London)[5] and a painting of her by Maeve McCarthy, commissioned in 2005, is on display in the National Gallery of Ireland.[6]
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Themes
While some novels are complete stories (Circle of Friends, Light a Penny Candle) many of her novels revolve around a cast of interrelated characters (The Copper Beech, Silver Wedding, The Lilac Bus, Evening Class, Heart and Soul). Her later novels, Evening Class, Scarlet Feather, Quentins, and Tara Road, feature a continuum of recurring characters.
Bibliography
Novels [7]
- Light a Penny Candle (1982)
- The Lilac Bus (1984)
- Echoes (1985)
- Firefly Summer (1987)
- Silver Wedding (1988)
- Circle of Friends (1990)
- The Copper Beech (1992)
- The Glass Lake (1994)
- Evening Class (1996)
- Tara Road (1998)
- Scarlet Feather (2000)
- Quentins (2002)
- Nights of Rain and Stars (2004)
- Whitethorn Woods (2006)
- Heart and Soul (2008)
Short story collections [7]
Binchy has also published several short story collections, including:
- Central Line (1978)
- Victoria Line (1980)
- Dublin 4 (1981)
- London Transports (1983)
- Story Teller: Collection of Short Stories (1990)
- Dublin People (1993)
- Cross Lines (1996)
- This Year It Will Be Different: And Other Stories (1996)
- The Return Journey (1998)
Other works
- Star Sullivan (2006) (a novella)[7]
- The Builders (2002)(a novella)[7]
- Deeply Regretted By (a play)[7]
- Aches and Pains (1999) (non-fiction)[7]
- A Time to Dance (2006) (non-fiction)[7]
- The Maeve Binchy Writer's Club (2008) (non-fiction)[7]
- Finbar's Hotel (contributor)
- Ladies Night at Finbar's Hotel (contributor)
- Irish Girls About Town (2002) (editor with Cathy Kelly and Marian Keyes).
References
- ^ a b Encyclopedia Britannica entry on Maeve Binchy
- ^ a b c d Guardian Unlimited Books
- ^ An interview with Jana Siciliano for BookReporter.com
- ^ Circle of Friends at IMDB.com
- ^ National Portrait Gallery: Maeve Binchy.
- ^ National Gallery unveils portrait of Maeve Binchy, National Gallery of Ireland, October 2005.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Maeve Binchy's Official Site
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
 | Aches and Pains |
| The Copper Beech |
| Heart and Soul (novel) |
 | Who is Maeve Crowley? Read answer... |
| How do you pronounce Maeve? Read answer... |
| What does the name maeve mean? Read answer... |
 | In the book Light A Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy how does Elizabeth White show courage? |
| Who was queen maeve? |
| Is there a Saint Maeve? |
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 | Irish Literature Companion. The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature. Copyright © 1996, 2000, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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- Who is Maeve Binchy?
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