Echoes [Paperback]

Maeve Binchy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 6, 2007

"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...

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The bracing sea air brings little pleasure to the year-round residents of Castlebay, a village on the coast of Ireland, where class lines are strictly observed and morals publicly monitored. The youngest daughter of a shopkeeper whose meagre living depends on summer trade, Clare O'Brien is determined to move beyond her present circumstances. Hard work and the guidance of an irreverent, caring schoolteacher bring the resolute scholar to a college in Dublin. There, her steps falter when she enters into an ardent affair with David Power, the son of Castlebay's only doctor and another willing exile. Although David returns her love, their devotion is sorely tested when they are forced to marry and return home. As a wealthy, new-fledged doctor, David easily resumes his privileged position, but Clare is trapped between her mother-in-law's cold fury and the town's unease. Sharply drawn, memorable characters and a convincing picture of a small Irish community bring freshness and zest to a familiar tale. Binchy also wrote Light a Penny Candle. 50,000 first printing; Literary Guild alternate; first serial to Cosmopolitan; paperback rights to Dell; U.K. rights: Century Publishing; translation rights: Christine Green. January
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This romantic melodrama, set in an Irish seaside town in the Fifties and early Sixties, is as wholesome and engaging as the author's first novel, Light a Penny Candle ( LJ 2/15/83). Memorable characters include a poor shopkeeper's daughter who wins a university scholarship, only to miss final exams by a cruel twist of fate; a medical student who shocks his family by marrying ``beneath him''; a lonely schoolteacher who guards two scandalous secrets about her local celebrity brother; and a kindly, ubiquitous priest who knows all, tells nothing, and holds everyone together. It's a little slow to get into, but by the halfway mark the reader is fully involved in all the subplots and is turning pages nonstop. Recommended for most public libraries and for YA collections. Literary Guild alternate. Joyce Smothers, Ocean Cty. Lib., Toms River, N.J.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Signet (March 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451221966
• ISBN-13: 978-0451221964
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (77 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,043 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.