Echoes | 
|  | | | Title: | Echoes | | Author: | Maeve Binchy | | Publisher: | Signet | | Type: | Book / Paperback | | Publication Date: | 06 March, 2007 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0451221966 / 9780451221964 | | List Price: | $7.99 | | Amazon Price: | $7.99 | |
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| Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
"It was sometimes called the echo cave, and if you shouted your question loud enough in the right direction, you got an answer instead of an echo..."
Clare and David--divided as children by a rigid social code that branded her as shanty Irish and him as gentry...brought together as adults by a desire that knew no class, no barriers, only the urgent hunger of two people destined to love--and ready to defy a world determined to keep them apart.
Even at fifteen, David Power knew the echo would answer eleven-year-old Clare O'Brien's dearest wish, to win a school prize. But it was years before Dr. Power's cherished only son saw in the huckster's daughter the answer to his own heart's desire. Here in Castlebay, perched precariously on the seaside cliffs, the lines between them were clearly drawn. Clare's only hope is to leave the town where time stopped, propelled by scholarships to Dublin, fueled by her own drive and brilliance, far from the insular, gossipy world of Castlebay and those in its thrall... Angela O'Hara, beautiful, insolated, a teacher trapped in the convent school, who risks everything to help Clare escape... Gerry Doyle, the town charmer who finds in Clare the woman he vows to have at any price... Caroline Nolan, the beautiful, rich outsider who comes to plunder...
For Clare, that was before the wild freedom of Dublin, and love. And David. Before fate drove them back to Castlebay, and the past...
From the Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews:
• Another Good Story 16 September, 2008
Good story - what else can I say? This is another entertaining book by Maeve Binchy, well worth reading.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A17BXBQRVTMMCS
• Bittersweet Message From 1950s Ireland 03 May, 2008
Maeve Binchy is a skilled storyteller with a strong career behind her (and hopefully before her). Her subject is always Irish life, but her earlier books are more of a retrospective on growing up in Ireland in the 1950s or 1960s. The Ireland of that time was a far more provincial, tradition-bound place than the cosmopolitan Celtic Tiger of today. People stayed where they were brought up, and were expected to take after their families, for better or worse. If you were the son of the town drunkard, his was your lot. If you were the son of the town doctor, you were at the top of the Irish food chain (as opposed to the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, who were another thing altogether), and medicine was your expected profession. If you were a daughter rather than a son, husband and children were your destiny, with your status determined by your mate's.
Such is the world that Clare and David were born into in Castlebay. Clare's parents are shopkeepers in this summer resort town, relying on the tourists to keep them afloat. David's father is the doctor, and he goes to a boarding school rather than the parochial school in the village like Clare and the other children. Clare is very bright, and fortunately has a champion at the school in the form of Angela O'Hara, a lay teacher at the school. Miss O'Hara is herself the daughter of the town drunk who was able to get an education despite her community's expectations. Clare and David both go to University: "the" University in their world, University College, Dublin, and not unexpectedly from the reader's point of view, fall in love.
Echoes is a less satisfactory story than Binchy's Circle of Friends, which is set in the same period and has a similar theme. The ending is unresolved and the message is mixed. The village characters aren't as well rounded, and characters seem to make stupid decisions for (to me) poorly grounded reasons. I enjoy the retrospective Binchy stories as much as her contemporary ones, but this one isn't the pick of the bunch.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2SU6GK7WIP5CN
• Great Book 24 November, 2008
This was a wonderful book, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Maeve Binchy's novels. I have read almost all of her books and consider this one of her best.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A7M0VJQ1WLLNY
• Classic Binchy! 07 November, 2008
'Echoes" is actually one of Binchy's older novels, and it is classic Binchy with a convincing blend of human drama, social commentary and romance. As with almost all her novels, "Echoes" is peopled with memorable characters and filled with poignancy.
"Echoes" tells the story of Clare O'Brien, a grocer's daughter growing up in a small Irish holiday resort. Clare is a bright girl and dreams of a life beyond her present circumstances. Then there is David, a doctor's only son whose mother is class-conscious and disapproving of her son's friendship with Clare. There's also Gerry, a photographer's son. These three lives intersect and the story focuses on them growing up amidst the class prejudices of the times and how individuals discover what life is about and what truly matters.
I'm a long-time Binchy fan and I've been collecting her books since I first read Circle of Friends back when I was in college more than a decade ago. Her stories are always so real and down-to-earth, peopled with characters that are not just well-developed but ones readers can relate to and genuinely care about. The story here flows seamlessly and pulls you in, and as with most of Binchy's works, makes you feel all warm inside.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1POFVVXUZR3IQ
• My Favorite Maeve Binchy Book 17 September, 2008
I'm surprised this book doesn't have as many reviews as her other titles. It has great characters, and a compelling and moving story. I loved it and highly recommend it.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AZPWAVO3TB51C
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