This Year It Will Be Different
by Maeve Binchy
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Book Summary Information
Author: Maeve BinchyEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1997-10-06
ISBN: 0440223571
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Dell
Book Reviews of This Year It Will Be Different
Book Review: One of the few people that can write short stories that I like
Summary: 5 Stars
Maeve Binchy is one of my all-time favorite authors. There is nothing of hers that I haven't liked and most if her work, I have loved. A while back, I was looking at everything she has written to see if I had missed something and came across this book. Since Christmas was coming up I bought it for my Kindle but waited until December to begin reading.
This is a collection of short stories (which I typically don't like as well as novels) but the author manages to write them so well. The characters are developed in each one and I was totally engrossed in each story quickly so I hardly noticed they weren't full-length stories. In typical Binchy style, the stories are a mixture of good and bad, personal hurt and growth. Unlike most books published geared around the holidays of fluffy stories with happy endings, there is "meat on those bones" with this collection. There are probably more heart-wrenching stories than uplifting ones, but after multiple novels of light and airy narratives, I was actually quite ready for some grittier story lines and this delivered. I think Maeve Binchy is probably one of the few authors that can get away with writing about bad stuff happening during the holidays and still have me loving it.
A wonderful collection of well-written stories. For those looking for the Normal Rockwell version of holiday stories, this definitely isn't for you. For people looking for the stories of things not always going well and families not always getting along (realistic but without being over-the-top), this might be just the ticket. I loved it and plan on re-reading it over the coming years.
Summary of This Year It Will Be Different
From the New York Times bestselling author of Circle of Friends, The Glass Lake, and Evening Class comes a stunning collection of fifteen Christmas stories filled with Maeve Binchy's trademark wit, charm, and sheer storytelling genius. In "A Typical Irish Christmas," a grieving widower heads for a holiday in Ireland and finds an unexpected destination not just for himself, but for a father and daughter in crisis. . . . In "Pulling Together," a teacher not yet out of her twenties sees her affair with a married man at a turning point as Christmas Eve approaches. . . . And in the title story, "This Year It Will Be Different," a woman with a complacent husband and grown children enters a season that will forever alter her life, and theirs. . .These stories, and a dozen more, powerfully evoke many lives--from step-families grappling with exes to children caught in grown-up tugs-of-war--during the one holiday when feelings cannot be easily hidden. The time of year may be magical, imbued with meaning. But the situations are timeless. And Maeve Binchy makes us care about them all.
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