Promotional Information

Maeve Binchy is one of today's most successful and best-loved authors, read all over the world and translated into 30 languages. Her last seven novels have all been Sunday Times No.1 bestsellers and the last four were Guardian fastsellers. Stunning new livery for Maeve Binchy - the backlist is being reissued simultaneously. There are now over 6.5 million copies of Maeve Binchy Orion paperbacks in print and she always receives excellent reviews: 'She is one of the few writers who can pull at your heartstrings ... The author's great skill is to draw you into the world she creates, so that reading her books is like gossiping with old friends ... This is a book which would be perfect self-indulgence on a summer's day or one to cheer a rainy one' Daily Express. 'You'll be hooked by the characters from the start and the fine storytelling simply sweeps you along' Woman's Realm. 'Binchy is a Dickens. She writes about the dilemmas of human beings with a backdrop which describes the manners and morals of a society' Irish Times. 'Absorbing and delightful' Sunday Times. In the top 100 bestselling Irish titles Maeve Binchy occupies seven of the top twenty places including the number one slot.

About the Author

Maeve Binchy was born in County Dublin and came to fame first as London Correspondent for the Irish Times. Her first novel, Light A Penny Candle made her famous in the UK and USA. She lives in County Dublin with her husband, Gordon Snell.

Reviews

A short story by Maeve will appear in WOMAN'S WEEKLY August Fiction Special Maeve has written the column Age of Enlightenment for THE TIMES T2 supplement (date tbc) Interview with Maeve for the SATURDAY TELEGRAPH Heaven & Hell column in the travel section Reviews are confirmed in WOMAN, WOMAN'S OWN, BEST, CHOICE

A short story by Maeve will appear in WOMAN'S WEEKLY August Fiction Special Maeve has written the column Age of Enlightenment for THE TIMES T2 supplement (date tbc) Interview with Maeve for the SATURDAY TELEGRAPH Heaven & Hell column in the travel section Reviews are confirmed in WOMAN, WOMAN'S OWN, BEST, CHOICE

Four strangers cross paths in a tiny Greek seaside village in this thin but engaging new novel by bestselling Binchy (Quentins; Circle of Friends). When tragedy strikes the smalltown of Aghia Anna in the form of a devastating fire on a tourist pleasure boat-24 people are killed-elderly barkeeper Andreas and craft-shop owner Vonni find themselves host to a random assortment of travelers who watch the conflagration from Andreas's taverna. There is Elsa, the German beauty who is trying to flee from love; David, the quiet young Englishman whose demanding father wants him to go into the family business; Thomas, the American professor who struggles to share his son with his ex-wife's new husband; and Fiona, the Irish nurse who follows her abusive boyfriend despite the warnings of her friends and family. As these strangers become friends, the mysterious Vonni, an Irish woman whose Greek is fluent and whose respected position in town is unquestioned, explores her own memories of heartache, as does Andreas. Unwilling to see their new friends repeat their mistakes, Andreas and Vonni set out to influence the hearts of this motley bunch of foreigners before they leave the village. The setup is flimsy, and the bonds the characters develop are too slender to provide much emotional texture, but Binchy's fans will enjoy this summery page-turner. Agent, Christine Green. (Sept.) Forecast: Fans may feel Binchy strays too far from her rich home turf of Ireland, but most won't begrudge her the vacation. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.