ECHOES [Hardcover]

Maeve Binchy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2000

Potent love story.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 477 pages
• Publisher: Book Of The Month Club; Book Club Edition edition (2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965031349
• ISBN-13: 978-0965031349
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (77 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #629,265 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

87 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the 'rites of passage' genre by far, May 27, 2000

By 

Dr W. Richards "wmr-uk" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Echoes (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read everything Maeve Binchy has written, and in my opinion this is by far the best of her many novels. It's about a group of friends growing up together in a small seaside town in 1950s Ireland. As they get older they discover there are differences of status between their families, and Claire and David, who are beginning to fall in love as teenagers, discover his family is not receptive to their relationship.

The story moves on, through their college years and beyond, and along the way Binchy shows the passage of time by subtly blending social and political changes in with the characters' lives. Binchy has fantastic story-telling skills, and these are best exhibited in her earlier books, such as this and Light a Penny Candle; I did find some of her later books a little disappointing.

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soul wrenching at its finest, March 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Echoes (Mass Market Paperback)

I have never, repeat never, read a book as touching and involving as this one. I have no clue why this was my first introduction to such a superior storyteller as Maeve Binchy. I'm only saddened that I've waited so long to read one of her books. I can't wait to get another. This lady has a gift. This book is enthralling. Definitely not a story you will soon forget if ever. The characters are amazingly real, you grow so attached to them faults and all. You will be happy for them at times and your heart will absolutely break for them at other times. Simply fabulous. Although a little slow in the beginning you won't be able to put it down when things start happening. Although I didn't like the way the ending left me hanging, I couldn't dare think it wasn't worth it. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story! However this one isn't good, it's wonderful!

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Left me unsatisfied, April 26, 2001

By 

Lakala2 (Rochester, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Echoes (Mass Market Paperback)

I started reading this book about 6:00 one night, and ended up staying awake until about 4:00 to finish it. I loved it, the beginning anyway. The characters were very real and the story was very good. I got very caught up it in, and couldn't put it down. Then came the last fifty or maybe a hundred pages. Maeve Binchy set up an amazing plot, a little depressing maybe, but still good, but the ending was no where near my expectations based on the rest of the book. It seemed like she spent months building up the story, then realized "Oh no! I only have two days to my deadline!" then hastily wrapped up the book in a very unsatisfying way that was untrue to the characters and very disappointing. Read it anyway, it's still a very good book, just don't take the ending as personnally as I did. I spent the next day very sad and very tired.