Echoes [Paperback]

Maeve Binchy (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 4, 2008

Now in a beautiful new trade paperback edition?the second novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author.

David Power and Clare O?Brien both grew up dreaming of escape from the battered seaside town of Castlebay, but they might as well have had the ocean between them. David is the cherished son of a prosperous doctor, while Clare lives with her large family behind their faltering store, longing for a moment of quiet to study. When they both go to university in Dublin?he as a matter of course, she on a hard-won scholarship?their worlds collide. They find freedom in each other?until the families, lovers, and secrets they left in Castlebay come back to haunt them.

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: 496 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade; Reprint edition (November 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451225104
• ISBN-13: 978-0451225108
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (119 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,534 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.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#20 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction

#22 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

#46 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

#81 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

#20 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction

#22 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

#46 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

#81 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

112 of 114 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

Format: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.

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful

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

By A Customer

Format: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!

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful

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

By Lakala2

Format: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.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Another great book from Maeve Binchy September 28, 2003

By Ratmammy VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

ECHOES by Maeve Binchy

Here's a book I read earlier this summer - ECHOES by Maeve Binchy. It's the story of two people, David Powers and Clare O'Brien, and how their lives seem to be destined to come together, despite what social status dictates. They grow up in the same small town of Castlebay in Ireland, travelling in different circles, since David's family is well to do, while Clare's is part of the working class. But they eventually find their lives intertwined as they approach adulthood.

Clare's desire as she's growing up is to leave this small town, where she knows she would be trapped forever, expected to live out a life as traditionally as women have in the past - get married, have babies. Clare wants more for herself, and with the help of her teacher Angela O'Hara, who had remained single so far into her adult life, she tries to meet her goal.

David's calling is to be a doctor as his father before him. For him, his parents prefer something better than being stuck forever with a lower class girl like Clare. It is their hopes that he marries into a prominent Irish family and continues the family practice.

But fate has something different in mind. The story of David and Clare had me glued to this book, and as always Maeve Binchy tells a great story, filled with wonderful personalities that surround the main characters. I highly recommend ECHOES as one of Binchys' best books to date. Don't be put off by the length. It's worth the read!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A book to curl up with December 23, 1999

By katie

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This was my third Maeve Binchy experience and by far my favorite. Better than CIRCLE OF FRIENDS or TARA ROAD. A rich story, and wonderfully developed characters. The town of Castlebay is described beautifully, and Clare's experience at the university in Dublin adds a nice variety to the setting. I agree with other reviewers that the ending was not completely satisfying because it left me hanging, but I really did enjoy ECHOES. Pour a cup of tea, curl up with this book and be transported to your own Irish cottage in Castlebay.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars great story,but what is going to happen to David & Clare? September 17, 1999

By [e-mail]

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This is a great story of life in a small Irish village. The characters are wonderfully real to life. Maeve really captures Irish village life mentality. Once you get in to the book it is hard to put down. I couldn't wait to pick it up and read when ever I had the time, it leaves you wondering what is going to happen next? I loved the story but not the ending. I wish we had known how things were going to turn out for David & Clare.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful read August 21, 2001

By Karen Potts

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Maeve Binchy has an uncanny ability to create characters which the reader grows to know and enjoy and hates to let go at the end of the book. In this novel, Binchy details the lives of a group of young people in the town of Castlebay, Ireland, from 1950-1962. There are the usual class distinctions which are far more important to the adults than they are to their children. One young woman, Clare O'Brien, renounces the usual life of her working class parents by working hard enough to get scholarships to school. She studies under the tutelage of Angela O'Hara who was also academically gifted, but whom circumstances have trapped in a dead-end teaching job in her hometown. Clare works hard for her degree, thus separating herself from her family. However, her academic successes have not put her on an even level with some of the young people who come from more prominent families. She and a wealthier young man fall in love and they must battle a variety of negative outside influences. This is an engrossing tale which causes the reader to really care about the characters and what becomes of them.