A Week in Winter

A Week in Winter (2012) by Maeve Binchy. This is Binchy's last book, and she died shortly after writing it and before it was published. Her writing powers are still at full force, however, and this book illustrates why she was so popular for so long. In this book, she follows the fortunes of Chicky Starr, an Irish woman who left with her American lover, against advice of family, and found herself adrift in America for 20 years. When she finally returns to Ireland, it is to buy and refurbish a large house called Stone House, which she turns into a prosperous vacation hotel. The reader is treated to the stories of the visitors to Stone House, and most of them benefit by  their sojourns in the Irish countryside. Binchy is a master storyteller, and all the separate stories of the guests at Stone House are told with grace and wit. This is a fine and entertaining novel. Grade: B+