Whitethorn Woods

I won't be the first to admit that Binchy's novels aren't exactly intellectually stimulating -- they're warm and fluffy and make you feel all gooey inside, perfect fodder for reading on the beach or curled up in bed when you're unwell. But this one, I'm sorry to say, was a disappointing read.

The thing that bugged me most was not the storytelling, which is typically enjoyable, heart-warming Binchy fare, but the complete failure of the publisher to specify anywhere on the cover or blurb that this is actually a collection of interconnected short stories and not a novel. I am not a fan of the short story for no other reason than they generally leave me feeling dissatisfied, because I want to know more about the characters, their motivations and lives. On that basis I'm a novel-reading kind of gal, and that's probably how it will always be.

Whitethorn Woods comprises 13 short stories, each one divided into two parts so that the same story is told from two different points of view, an interesting "twist" which demonstrates Binchy's exemplary story-telling skills. The characters in each story are all from the same place -- a once sleepy Irish town called Rossmore, which is now booming but is choked by traffic. These stories are connected by three "bridging" chapters -- at the start, middle and end -- which explain how the town's woods and a well dedicated to St Ann are threatened by a new bypass. It's a nifty idea, but I couldn't help but wonder if Binchy had simply chucked together all those unpublished short stories she's written over the years, perhaps the ones languishing in the bottom drawer, and inserted a few common themes -- the woods, the spiritual well, the town's traffic problem -- in order to get the next book out and into the shops. That might sound harsh, but as a reader I have to admit feeling slightly cheated by this book.

Still, if you like short stories, this is a good little collection, provided you don't mind Binchy's rather simplistic, sometimes cloying, view of life in which hard work is always rewarded, love can be found in the most unexpected of places and good things happen to kind people. But personally, as much as I enjoyed reading about the quiet lives told within each story, I struggled to enjoy Whitethorn Woods as a whole.

If you've not read anything by Maeve Binchy before, I suggest this is not the place to start, because if you do it could well be the last Binchy you ever read -- and that would be a sad thing given her extraordinary back catalogue of feel-good fiction.

Regained her previous form. (0/0 people found this helpful)

Maeve Binchy has come off of a run of mediocre books and has regained her previous form. Whitethorn Woods has a clever structure; it begins from the point of view of Father Brian Flynn in Rossmore, a modern town in prosperous modern Ireland. Father Flynn feels beleaguered in his vocation: church scandals, the much reduced role of the church in everyday life, and the low esteem in which his profession is held by so many in the community (particularly his own family). Perhaps because it isn't really his biggest problem, he fixates on an ancient holy well in the Whitethorn Woods. Now dedicated to Saint Ann (mother of Saint Mary), believers have made a shrine out of the grotto in which the saint's statue stands. Father Flynn finds this to be all superstition and nothing to do with the true faith. He resents the attention the shrine gets as compared to his church. The shrine becomes the subject of divisiveness in Rossmore when a new road is proposed that will relieve the aggravating traffic in Rossmore, but pass through the Whitethorn Woods and obliterate the shrine.

Most of the book is taken up with the stories of the individual women and men whose lives the shrine has touched. These stories are all told in the first person and are remarkably varied. They are like a sampler in which Binchy demonstrates her mastery of the craft. And the stories are much cleverer than just beginning with a request for intercession and then showing how it worked out. Some of the characters aren't even aware of the shrine at all. After a group of stories, the narrative returns to the impasse of the bypass, and then back to more lives of ordinary people who have some relationship with Rossmore or St. Ann. Finally the book concludes with an unexpected resolution to the conflict between progress and tradition.

After reading this book, I feel like an empath that has touched too many minds in too short a time. The stories within it are powerful and told in many different voices. The situation in Rossmore that frames them is also well told, but it's the lives depicted in the stories that stand in the fore!! I would also recommend reading Tino Georgiou's bestselling novel--The Fates--if you haven't yet.

Disappointment (2/2 people found this helpful)

I have read most of Maeve's books and this one I had great difficulty getting into. I had to keep going back to refresh my memory of who the characters were. I cannot say I enjoyed it at all.
I gave it to a couple of friends and they agreed with me.

Bit of a disappointment (2/2 people found this helpful)

I've always loved Maeve Binchy books but this one is a disappointment. It's an interesting combination of characters but it loses pace halfway through and fizzles out towards the end. I liked the 'modern Ireland' feel but the characters didn't develop enough and some where left high and dry with no satisfactory outcome..... did she run out of ideas? Seems like it. I thought it was just me but my sister and neighbour felt the same. I wouldn't recommend this one I'm afraid although I'll buy the next one in the hope it's a one off........!

A great read (0/0 people found this helpful)

i thoroughly enjoyed Whitethorn Woods. initally I was worried that the book would focus too much on the surroundings and not the people, but i was wrong. it was like 20 little stories all interlinked which I found hugely entertaining. A great read that is not too taxing and you look forward to meeting new characters through the authors very clever eyes.

Maeve Binchy

Reader Reviews:

Mediocre Maeve (0/0 people found this helpful)

Regained her previous form. (0/0 people found this helpful)

Disappointment (2/2 people found this helpful)

Bit of a disappointment (2/2 people found this helpful)

A great read (0/0 people found this helpful)

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