Maeve Binchy:Silver Wedding: A family reunion threatens to reveal all their secrets... by Mae
- Paperback ISBN: 9780099498629
Anna Anna knew that he was doing his best to be interested. She could read his face so well. Joe tried to be interested then, too, it was a welcoming, courteous, earnest look. Hoping that… More...
Anna Anna knew that he was doing his best to be interested. She could read his face so well. Joe tried to be interested then, too, it was a welcoming, courteous, earnest look. Hoping that it passed as genuine interest, hoping that the conversation wouldn"t last too long. The Nile on eBay Silver Wedding by Maeve Binchy Desmond and Deirdre Doyle will have been married for 25 years in October. It falls to the Doyles' eldest daughter, Anna, to decide how to commemorate her parents' Silver Wedding. No use in asking her sister or brother. But it is unthinkable not to have a party, even though for the Doyles, family occasions are more difficult than for most. FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description Another unforgettable novel from the bestselling author of Light a Penny Candle and Circle of FriendsAnother unforgettable novel from the bestselling author of Light a Penny Candle and Circle of Friends.'What better books to raise the spirits than the gentle, insightful Irish tales of Maeve Binchy?' HELLO! Magazine_______________An unforgettable novel from the bestselling author of Light a Penny Candle and Circle of FriendsDesmond and Deirdre Doyle's silver wedding anniversary is drawing ever closer, and it falls to the couple's eldest daughter, Anna, to decide how best to commemorate the big day.No use asking her sister Helen, living in her London convent, or her brother Brendan, who has chosen exile on a bleak farm in the west of Ireland.But it is unthinkable not to have a party, even though for the Doyles, family occasions are more difficult than for most. And as the day draws nearer, so the tension mounts, until finally the guests gather at the party itself. . ._______________Readers can't get enough of Silver Wedding . . .***** 'When I read a Maeve, I feel I have come home.'***** 'A clever and insightful read.'***** 'I love her style. Her characters are so rich.'***** 'One of my favorite writers, she understands people in a rare way.'***** 'An excellent read, as always!' Notes Another unforgettable novel from the bestselling author of Light A Penny Candle and Circle Of Friends. Back Cover Desmond and Deirdre Doyle will have been married for twenty-five years in October. It falls to the Doyles' eldest daughter, Anna, to decide how best to celebrate her parents' Silver Wedding. No use asking her sister Helen, living in her London convent, or her brother Brendan, who has chosen another form of exile on a bleak farm in the West of Ireland. But it is unthinkable not to have a party, even though for the Doyles, family occasions are more difficult than for most. For each of them is keeping up a front, nursing a secret wound, or smarting over a hidden betrayal. And as the day draws nearer, so the tension mounts, until finally the guests gather at the party itself... 'Maeve Binchy is one of the few writers who can pull at your heartstrings... she has a touching belief in goodness, but knows that bad things happen... reading her books is like gossiping with old friends' Daily Express 'A joy to read from start to finish' Best 'Maeve Binchy has a gimlet eye for the seething cauldron of emotions which lies beneath the surface of everyday life' Irish Independent Fiction Arrow Books ISBN: 0099498626 Author Biography Maeve Binchy was born in Dublin, and went to school at the Holy Child Convent in Killiney. She took a history degree at UCD and taught in various girls' schools, writing travel articles in the long summer holidays. In 1969 she joined the Irish Times and for many years she was based in London writing humorous columns from all over the world. She is the author of five collections of short stories as well as twelve novels including Circle of Friends, The Copper Beech, Tara Road, Evening Class and The Glass Lake. Maeve Binchy died on 30 July 2012. She is survived by her husband, the writer Gordon Snell. Review "Maeve Binchy has a gimlet eye for the seething cauldron of emotions which lies beneath the surface of everyday life" Irish Independent "An adept storyteller with a sharp eye for social nuances and a pleasing affection for her characters" Sunday Times "A rousing good story ... Laughter and tears: it's what Binchy does best" San Francisco Chronicle "Maeve Binchy is one of the few writers who can pull at your heartstrings ... she has a touching belief in goodness, but knows that bad things happen... reading her books is like gossiping with old friends" Daily Express "A joy to read from start to finish" Best Promotional Another unforgettable novel from the bestselling author of LIGHT A PENNY CANDLE and CIRCLE OF FRIENDS. Review Text Maeve Binchy has a gimlet eye for the seething cauldron of emotions which lies beneath the surface of everyday life Review Quote "Reading these tales is like listening to someone talking: someone you very much want to hear." Sunday Telegraph "A rousing good story.... Laughter and tears: it's Promotional "Headline" Another unforgettable novel from the bestselling author of Light a Penny Candle and Circle of Friends Excerpt from Book Anna Anna knew that he was doing his best to be interested. She could read his face so well. This was the same look she saw on his face when older actors would come up and join them in the club and tell old tales about people long gone. Joe tried to be interested then, too, it was a welcoming, courteous, earnest look. Hoping that it passed as genuine interest, hoping that the conversation wouldn''t last too long."I''m sorry, I''m going on a bit," she apologized. She pulled a funny face at him as she sat at the other end of the bed dressed only in one of his shirts, the Sunday papers and a breakfast tray between them.Joe smiled back, a real smile this time."No, it''s nice that you''re so worked up about it, it''s good to care about families."He meant it, she knew, in his heart he thought it was a Good Thing to care about families, like rescuing kittens from trees and beautiful sunsets and big collie dogs. In principle Joe was in favor of caring about families. But he didn''t care at all about his own. He wouldn''t have known how many years his parents were married. He probably didn''t know how long he had been married himself. Something like a silver anniversary would not trouble Joe Ashe.Anna looked at him with the familiar feeling of tenderness and fear. Tender and protective--he looked so lovely lying there against the big pillows, his fair hair falling over his face, his thin brown shoulders so relaxed and easy. Fearful in case she would lose him, in case he would move on gently, effortlessly, out of her life, as he had moved into it.Joe Ashe never fought with people, he told Anna with his big boyish smile, life was much too short for fights. And it was true.When he was passed over for a part, when he got a bad review, there was the shrug: "Well, so it could have been different but let''s not make a production out of it."Like his marriage to Janet. It was over, so why go on pretending? He just packed a small bag and left.Anna feared that one day in this very room he would pack a small bag and leave again. She would rail and plead as Janet had done and it would be no use. Janet had even come around and offered Anna money to go away. She wept about how happy she had been with Joe. She showed pictures of the two small sons. It would all be fine again if only Anna would go away."But he didn''t leave you to come to me, he had been in a flat by himself for a year before he even met me," Anna had explained."Yes, and all that time I thought he would come back."Anna hated to remember Janet''s tearstained face, and how she had made tea for her, and hated even more to think that her own face would be stained with tears like this one day, and as unexpectedly as it had all happened to Janet. She gave a little shiver as she looked at the handsome easy boy in her bed. Because even if he was twenty-eight years of age, he was still a boy. A gentle cruel boy."What are you thinking?" he asked.She didn''t tell him. She never told him how much she thought about him and dreaded the day he would leave."I was thinking it''s about time they did another film version of Romeo and Juliet. You''re so handsome it would be unfair to the world not to get a chance to look at you," she said laughingly.He reached out and put the breakfast tray on the floor. The Sunday papers slid after it."Come here to me," said Joe. "My mind was running on the same lines entirely, entirely at all, "at all'' as you Irish say.""What a superb imitation," Anna said dryly, but snuggling up to him all the same. "It''s no wonder that you''re the best actor in the whole wide world and renowned all over the globe for your great command of accents."She lay in his arms and didn''t tell him about how worried she was about this silver wedding. She had seen from his face that she had already been going on about it far too long.In a million years Joe would not understand what it meant in their family. Mother and Father''s twenty-fifth anniversary. They celebrated everything in the Doyle household. There were albums of memories, boxes chronicling past celebrations. On the wall of the sitting room at home there was a gallery of Major Celebrations. The wedding day itself, the three christenings. There was Grannie O''Hagan''s sixtieth birthday, there was Grandpa Doyle''s visit to London with all of them standing beside a sentry outside Buckingham Palac, Cornerstone<
