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This Year It Will Be Different by Maeve Binchy
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Maeve Binchy Reader: Fionnula Flanagan Edition: Audio Cassette Format: Abridged, Audiobook Published: 1996-11-01 ISBN: 0553477625 Publisher: Random House Audio Accessories:
Book Reviews of This Year It Will Be DifferentBook Review: Definitely Not Uplifting ... Summary: 2 StarsLet me set something straight here ~~ I love Maeve's books. I have read them all and there are several that I re-read over the years simply because they're honest and uplifting. So it was with great anticipation that I sat down with this book ~~ I was expecting something to set my mind on the proper Christmas mood and boy, was I disappointed.
This book is not uplifting at all. In fact, the tone I detected throughout the entire collection of short stories is bitterness. Not bittersweet, just bitterness. Like Maeve has a grudge against Christmas. Maybe she does have a grudge ~~ but anyhow, this entire short story collection is not for the reader who is looking for something to cheer her up before the craziness of the holiday descends. In fact, if you're bitter about the holidays, then this book is perfect for you.
The short stories don't even feel complete nor full ~~ she has written better short stories than this collection so it is very disappointing that I put the book down and say, where's my Maeve?! This one is about women having affairs with married men, parents grown distant from their adult children, women who miss their spouses and lost dreams, and so on. There was nothing, I mean, nothing redeemable about any of these stories.
If you're a die-hard Binchy fan, you might like this collection. But save your money and buy her other books. This one is definitely not going into my personal library.
11-30-07
Summary of This Year It Will Be DifferentFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Circle of Friends and The Glass Lake comes a stunning new collection of fifteen Christmas stories with all the magic and spirit of Christmas, and filled with Maeve Binchy's trademark wit, charm, and sheer storytelling genius.??In all fifteen stories, instead of nostalgia, Binchy evokes contemporary life; instead of Christmas homilies, she offers truth; and instead of sugarplums, she brings us the nourishment of holidays that precipitate change, growth, and new beginnings.
The stories in this completely unabridged production powerfully portray many lives--step-families grappling with exes, long-married couples faced with in-law problems, a wandering husband choosing between "the other women" and his wife, a child caught in grown-up tugs-of-war--during the one holiday when feelings cannot be easily hidden. The time of year may be magical, but the situations she describes are universal. And Maeve Binchy's writing. combined with Fionnula Flanagan's storytelling ability, makes us care about each one in this extraordinary collection--on the night before Christmas, or anywhere, any time of the year.
Fionnula Flanagan received an Emmy for her leading role in Rich Man, Poor Man, and a second nomination for her role in How the West Was Won.??She also appears on the BDD Audio productions of Maeve Binchy's The Glass Lake, Circle of Friends, and The Copper Beech.
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