The Copper Beech [Hardcover]

Maeve Binchy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2000

Carved on the trunk of the mighty beech that embraces the school yard in Shancarrig are declarations of love, hope, and identity - the youthful dreams of the children who played there. Now grown, yet shaped by their years in the schoolhouse, they lead different lives. The Copper Beech is about eight of those dreamers.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 345 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Dell; Book Club Edition (BCE). edition (2000)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000LVQQMO
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,925,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Maeve Binchy is the author of numerous best-selling books, including Nights of Rain and Stars, Quentins, Scarlet Feather, Circle of Friends, and Tara Road, which was an Oprah's Book Club selection. She has written for Gourmet; O, The Oprah Magazine; Modern Maturity; and Good Housekeeping, among other publications. She and her husband, Gordon Snell, live in Dalkey, Ireland, and London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Warm and cozy, just add a cup of tea., July 24, 2001

By 

Denise Bentley "Kelsana" (The California Redwoods) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Copper Beech (Mass Market Paperback)

That is what a Binchy novel is like to me. Hers are books I enjoy for the places she idyllically paints and the characters she puts forth to become a part of her homespun landscapes. Set in Ireland, the copper beech is a formidable an aging tree in front of the Shancarrig schoolhouse. Carved into it's bark are the hopes and dreams, stories and well wishes of many a heart, heavy as well as happy, that has passed beneath it's massive branches.

The book is written in a way so as to introduce each character and his personal view of Shancarrig and the people in it. This technique allows the lives of the characters to mesh unequivocally making this story so enjoyable. You will meet them all. The scoundrels as well as the lovelorn, those searching for passion, and those who have taken a bite from the apple of life only to be dealt a blow that redirects them to an unprecedented ending.

I enjoyed the style of this book as much as the characters and the storylines. Once you read a Binchy novel you can count on craving another, and there is no doubt that each one is it's own singular pleasure. Kelsana 7/24/01

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Colorful Read, December 10, 1999

By 

Bunnee - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Copper Beech (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm not a Maeve Binchy fan or anything but this book was good enough to keep me up late at nite reading it. I love all her characters in the book. They're all so colorful. You have to read it.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Maeve Binchy makes me want to travel to Ireland, September 1, 2001

By 

Britt Arnhild Lindland (Norway) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Copper Beech (Mass Market Paperback)

I discovered Maeve Binchy some years ago :-). Saw Tara Road on the shelves in my favorite book store here in Norway and it called out to me. Bought it, took it home and became an addicted Maeve Binchy fan. Since then I have read most of her books. Not many have been available here in my town in Norway, but I have bought some online and also found a couple at my local library. It was a big surprise though when I some time ago found a used copy of The Copper Bech at a local secondhand book store.
I finished The Copper Beech today, after getting deeply involved in the characters in the book.
The Copper Beech is set in Ireland like most of Binchy's books. Outside a small countryside school stands a copper beech, and once eight children carved their names in this tree. The children come from different backgrouds, what units them is the Shancarrig school where they all have spent an important part of their past. The book tells different stories, all about these kids and their life. It is a book about love and death, about daily life and about extraordinary events. Maeve Binchy is a master to tell a story the way you know it could have happend, her characters could me my neighbours, or yours for that. And at the same time she shows that there are extraordinary stories to be covered everywhere, in everybody's lives.
Though this is not my favorite Maeve Bincy, so far Evening Class holds that possition, I love the book. It has it's place on the shelves in my growing collection of Maeve Binchy books, and passing the shelves glimpsing the books I know I have hours of cozy hours ahead of me if or rather when I want to read them over again. I'm glad I still have some unread Maeve Bincy books to look forward to, Scarlet Feather on top of that list.
Happy reading